The US House of Representatives passed a bill to compel the provision of certain arms to Israel withheld by the Biden administration over a prospective large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

House lawmakers passed the bill, dubbed the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, on Thursday in a vote of 224 in favor and 187 opposed.

The legislation condemns US President Joe Biden’s decision to pause the weapons shipments and withholds funds from the State Department, Defense Department, and National Security Council until the arms are delivered.

However, the White House said that Biden would veto the bill if it reaches his desk; US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that the legislation is “not going anywhere” in Congress.

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Several settlements in Russia's Belgorod region were attacked by Ukrainian kamikaze drones, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

A woman and her four-year-old child were killed as a result of the Ukrainian drone strike and the child's father and one other person were injured, the governor said.

“In the village of Oktyabrsky, a [Ukrainian] kamikaze drone attacked a car with a driver and three passengers (a mother, father and child) in it," said Gladkov. "Sadly, as a result of the explosion the woman died at the scene from her injuries... Tragically, a four-year-old boy died in the hospital."

Gladkov added that another Ukrainian drone attacked a gas station, saying a tank caught on fire but it was promptly extinguished.

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US Congressman Thomas Massie announced that he introduced legislation to audit and abolish the Federal Reserve and related institutions, citing their contribution to inflation in the United States.

Massie introduced the bill, dubbed the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act. The legislation abolishes Federal Reserve banks and the institution’s board of governors.

The bill also repeals the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, which created the Federal Reserve System.

"Americans are suffering under crippling inflation, and the Federal Reserve is to blame," Massie said in a statement on the bill. "By monetizing the debt, the Federal Reserve devalued the dollar and enabled free money policies that caused the high inflation we see today."

The bill is cosponsored by 20 other US House Republicans, including Andy Biggs, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Chip Roy, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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A partial blackout occurred in the Russian city of Sevastopol as debris from intercepted Ukrainian drones fell on a power substation, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

Earlier in the day, Russian air defenses repelled a drone attack on Sevastopol and several Ukrainian drones were destroyed, Razvozhayev reported.

"A partial blackout was caused by the shutdown of some equipment at substation "Sevastopol". The debris from downed UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] crashed on the substation. Emergency services will begin restoring power supply after the attack is repelled," the governor wrote on Telegram.

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will not participate in the conference on Ukraine hosted by Switzerland in June, the president's office told Sputnik.

"Lula da Silva will not appear at the Ukraine summit," the office said in a statement.

In April, spokesman of the Russian embassy in Bern Vladimir Khokhlov told Sputnik that Switzerland did not invite Russia to the Ukraine summit, and Moscow is not planning to participate in any case.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in January, emphasized that Moscow takes into account Bern's departure from neutrality principles and its support for Kiev while shaping bilateral relations.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated in February that Switzerland's potential as an "honest broker" in conflict resolution has been exhausted for Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly signaled readiness for negotiations, yet Kiev has legislatively imposed a ban on them. The West calls on Russia for talks, to which Moscow shows willingness, but Western countries overlook Kiev's consistent refusal for dialogue.

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🇷🇺🇵🇸 Russia is ready to expand humanitarian assistance to residents of the Gaza Strip, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik.

"We are already providing it and are ready to expand the provision of such aid. The other thing is that ... humanitarian assistance can be delivered and effectively implemented if there is a ceasefire," Vershinin insisted.

That is why Russia has been advocating a ceasefire since the very beginning of Israel's military operation in Gaza, the Russian diplomat added. He underscored that without a ceasefire, as international humanitarian agencies confirm, sufficient quantities of aid are not reaching people suffering in the enclave.

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The Russian army has successfully repelled a massive attack by Ukrainian forces on Sevastopol in Crimea, destroying dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and more than five drone ships, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

No injuries were reported per preliminary information, according to the governor. Razvozhayev reported that emergency services are beginning to restore the city's power supply.

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Russian forces have successfully repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on civilian facilities in Russia’s city of Novorossiysk, with Russian air defenses destroying more than ten drones, Krasnodar Territory Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported.

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Russia's first Soyuz-5 rocket to be sent to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Q3 2025 - Progress CEO

The first Soyuz-5 rocket of Russia will be sent to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the third quarter of 2025, Dmitry Baranov, the CEO of the Samara-based Progress Rocket and Space Center, has said in an interview with Sputnik.

"We plan to install the rocket at the cosmodrome in the third quarter of this year. The first launch of the carrier rocket is planned for late 2025. We hope all ground infrastructure will be ready by that moment," Baranov said.

He added that manufacturing of the rocket's components for the first launch is underway. The first stage engine and part of the on-board equipment have already been delivered to the enterprise. In addition, the Soyuz-5 tanks and compartments are being manufactured. Most of the elements for assembly and welding of the tanks are already finished, Baranov said.

A new technology of friction stir welding is used in the production of the rocket's tanks, he said, adding that facilities designed specifically for this process allow to produce, among other things, specific types of welds, such as annular and curvilinear welds.
Soyuz-5 is a new medium-class rocket being developed in Russia. It will be able to launch up to 17 tonnes worth of payload into a low circular orbit. The rockets will be launched from the Baikonur site, which had been previously used for Zenit rocket launches. Russia is building the rocket, and Kazakhstan is modernizing the launch complex as part of a joint project.

Three test launches are expected to take place until 2027. Thereafter, it is planned to carry out at least three launches per year between 2028 and 2039.

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Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian city of Tuapse. As a result of a drone crash there was a fire on the premises of an oil refinery, said local authorities in the Krasnodar region.

The fire at the Tuapse oil refinery was localized and no casualties were reported, the authorities added later.

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Shooting of Slovak Prime Minister reveals ‘hateful’ rhetoric against Ukraine heretics

Mindia Gavasheli, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik’s US bureau, joined the Fault Lines program to offer insight on the attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is a critic of the Western-backed Ukraine proxy war on Russia.

“The biggest issue here in Slovakia is how the government is going to handle its relations with the media,” said Gavasheli, offering background on the political controversy that has engulfed the country in recent weeks. “Slovak [public] radio and television, as Fico claims, is filled with loyalists to the previous government… The ruling coalition was preparing to introduce a law to reshape how the state-owned media works, and that caused a lot of outcry here.”

Fico's political allies Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic condemned the attack, Gavasheli noted, and have vowed to visit Slovakia soon in an act of solidarity.

The assassination attempt comes as protests rock the Georgian capital of Tbilisi over a planned foreign agents registration law mirroring legislation in the US and other countries. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, like Fico, is often labeled in Western-aligned media as “pro-Russian.” Kobakhidze has charted a similar course to Fico on the Ukraine proxy conflict, promising his government’s commitment to humanitarian support for Ukrainians but rejecting calls to provide arms to the country.

As in Slovakia, Kobakhidze’s independence on the issue has led to controversy, with the Georgian Prime Minister recently criticizing the tenor of coverage from US-backed media outlets. Kobakhidze has accused the US and its allies of color revolution tactics, attempting to overthrow the leader in retribution for his claimed “pro-Russian” stance.

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❗️Russian air defenses shot down more than 100 drones overnight

Russian air defenses overnight destroyed and intercepted 51 Ukrainian drones over Crimea, 44 over the Krasnodar region, six over the Belgorod region, and one over the Kursk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. Naval aviation and patrol boats of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed six Ukrainian unmanned boats in the Black Sea.

“This isn't going to last much longer”: Russia’s plan to disintegrate Ukraine’s army – Scott Ritter

Former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program to weigh in on Antony Blinken’s impromptu concert in Kiev as the Russian army goes on the offensive in the northern Kharkov region.

“I'll just say he has to work on his, c, d, f, b minor transitions,” said Ritter of the secretary of state’s guitarwork. “If we look at the depth of what he was saying… I think he said we got another $2 billion we're going to give [Ukraine].”

“He's talking about long-term joint defense industry efforts, meaning that America's got to work with Ukraine so that sometime in the future, Ukraine will be able to produce its own defense needs…. And he's talking about the potential of having a weapons factory built in Ukraine two years down the road. I mean, Tony Blinken's just off in Never Neverland,” he said, predicting the “imminent collapse of the Ukrainian ability to sustain combat cohesion on the battlefield.”

Moscow has been engaged in a “war of attrition” against Kiev, Ritter noted, with the ultimate stated aim of demilitarizing Ukraine and ending the threat it poses as a proxy for NATO.

“They're not just wearing down the Ukrainians, but they're putting the Ukrainians into a classic horn of a dilemma, meaning they don't have enough forces to defend the area they were already defending. And now a new frontier opened up, and they have to decide what forces they're going to strip from where to send north, weakening the line that they're stripping [and] giving the Russians more opportunities.”

The result, Ritter said, is the gradual thinning out of Ukraine’s armed forces until its military is split and collapses.

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❗️LIVE: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in China's Harbin on the second day of his state visit to China

Sputnik comes to you live as President Vladimir Putin arrives in Harbin, the capital of China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang.

The Russian leader is expected to take part in the opening ceremonies of the eighth Russian-Chinese EXPO and the fourth Sino-Russian Forum on Interregional Cooperation.

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

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📹 Vladimir Putin laid flowers in Harbin at the monument to Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for the liberation of China

The Red Army participated in the liberation of northeastern China from the Japanese invaders in August-September 1945. Some 12,000 Soviet soldiers died in those battles.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Putin has arrived at the opening ceremony of the Russian-Chinese EXPO and the Forum of Interregional Cooperation

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❗️ The partnership between Russia and China reliably ensures energy security and raises the level of prosperity of their peoples, Putin said.

Russia supports China's intention to localize production in Russia and is ready to provide investors with benefits, he added.

❗️ Russia is capable of supplying China's economy with clean, affordable energy, Putin said

❗️ Putin invited Russia’s Chinese partners to the Eastern Economic Forum's (EEF), which is one of the biggest business forums in Russia, where he offered to discuss cooperation with Russia in detail.

The EEF was established in 2015 by Vladimir Putin and is a major platform for signing agreements between businesses both large and small for the joint development of projects.

📹 Russia is ready to provide investors from China with economic incentives and access to the technological base, Putin said.

“Russia not only welcomes the intention of Chinese business to localize production on our territory, we are ready to provide investors from China with economic incentives, assistance, and support, as well as access to Russia's unique technological base and our highly qualified personnel,” he said.

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