The Iranian news agency IRNA published the footage showing the coffins of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and security service member Mehdi Mousavi.

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"Let me be clear, contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice, what's happening is not genocide. We reject that," US President Joe Biden said at a press conference.

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The situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant remains fragile, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told Sputnik.

"I would say that the situation continues to be concerning, continues to be a situation of concern, because there is still military activity ongoing as we speak. And we had several episodes, one of them took me again to the Security Council, you may remember, in the month of April, there were a set of attack ... drones ... directly including one of the reactors. So the situation I would describe as very fragile, indeed, and very precarious," Grossi said.

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The West has confirmed its intention to militarize space - Nebenzia

Having prevented the UN Security Council from adopting Russia’s draft resolution, the West has confirmed its intention to continue militarization of space, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said at a meeting of the Security Council.

Nebenzia recalled how in April the US and its allies in the UNSC were loudly assuring everyone of their commitment to peaceful space.

“Today, after they have confirmed their real intentions to continue militarizing space and creating appropriate weapons, attempts to justify their actions by the allegedly non-consensual nature of our project look especially cynical and hypocritical,” Nebenzia said.

“In addition to the numbers, it has demonstrated the watershed between those who seek peaceful space exploration and those who are leading the way towards its militarization. Western countries found themselves today essentially isolated in the Council. And this is symptomatic,” the permanent representative emphasized.

According to the permanent representative, it is deeply regrettable that these countries did not allow the Security Council to make a balanced “and urgently needed decision in favor of preserving space exclusively for peaceful use.”

“The reason why you did not support our project is trivial and simple. You just want to leave yourselves free hands to use space for military purposes and to place any kind of weapons there,” the Permanent Representative concluded.

Earlier in the day, due to the position of Western countries, the UN Security Council did not adopt Russia's resolution on preventing an arms race in space. Russia, China, Algeria, Guyana, Ecuador, Mozambique, Sierra Leone voted in favor of the resolution. Switzerland abstained. The United States, France, Britain, Japan, Slovenia, the Republic of Korea, and Malta voted against.

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The militarization of space by the West will require a response from Russia - Nebenzia

The militarization of space by the West will require analysis and retaliatory steps by Russia, but Moscow will remain committed to its obligations under international law, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council Vasily Nebenzia said at a UNSC meeting.

“Of course, the current situation will require analysis and response steps from our side. At the same time, Russia will remain committed to its obligations in outer space in accordance with international law,” Nebenzia stressed.

“We have repeatedly confirmed and reaffirm our commitment. Despite the aggressive attitude of the United States and its allies, we will continue to work in this direction and make every effort together with responsible UN member states to keep space peaceful,” he emphasized.

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'Rot in jail': Assange granted appeal hearing while US drags its feet

After deferring a decision in March on whether Julian Assange could bring his case to another appeal hearing, on Monday he was granted permission by two judges to challenge his extradition to the US on espionage charges.

Canadian activist Yves Engler joined Sputnik’s Political Misfits to discuss prolonged legal troubles.

“[Letting] him rot in a British jail. This has dragged on for years and years and years and, you still see a situation where Julian Assange is not even necessarily mentioned when the Canadian government and other governments talk about political prisoners and freedom of the press. But, this is the message from the US empire. You don't reveal our secrets. If we can get you, we'll try to get you,” said Engler.

“There is a faction that wants to make an example to punish Julian Assange. ‘You’re not going to reveal the secrets of the empire and think that you can, and we're gonna do what we can to make that hurt’”, he added.

The decision by High Court judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson came on Monday after Assange’s lawyers argued that the US did not provide adequate assurances that he would have the same free speech protections as an American citizen were he to be extradited from Britain.

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Mystery surrounds helicopter crash: coincidence or sabotage in Raisi’s Death?

On Monday, Iranian officials confirmed that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and every other passenger were killed when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in the mountainous northwestern region of Iran.

“You had three helicopters flying in a row, one all of a sudden drops out. No mayday. No nothing. And if it was due to foggy conditions, how did the other two get through okay? But not the president's?” Michael Maloof, a retired senior security policy analyst asked the hosts of Sputnik’s The Critical Hour, referring to Raisi’s untimely death.

An Israeli official reportedly told US media that it was not involved in the Iranian President’s death.

But, as Maloof notes, Israel has a history of alleged clandestine operations inside of Iran, including the bombing of pipelines, the murder of nuclear scientists and the recent response from Israel to an Iranian attack which Iran says was carried out from within its territory.

“[The attack by Israel on Iran] was also a very meager response, but I think that this was all planned for something much larger, something like this,” Maloof speculated.

Maloof concluded that if it is revealed that Israel was involved, the response will be significant “You saw what the reaction was when the Israelis hit the Iranian consulate in Syria… for the first time, Iran displayed that it could strike Israel directly. If this helicopter crash indeed was purposeful and it could link back to Israel, I think you’re going to see a very major response.”

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Russian air defense systems destroyed an MLRS Olkha missile, a Ukrainian drone over the Kursk region and two drones over the Belgorod region overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Zelensky's presidential legacy: a dying Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky's term in office expired on May 20, and with no election in sight due to martial law in the country, his future status remains unknown.

What have his five years in office brought to Ukraine? Let’s look at the figures:

Public debt

▪️Ukraine's combined internal and external state debt reached an all-time high, public debt reached a historical record of $145.3 billion in 2023, per official data

▪️For comparison, the figure in 2019 and 2020 stood at $50.59 billion and $64.2 billion, respectively

▪️The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in turn, estimated an increase in Ukraine's public debt in 2023 to 88.1% of the GDP, and in 2024 and 2025 - to 98.6% and 100.7%, respectively

GDP

▪️Zelensky came to power in May 2019, and by the end of his first year in office, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 4.4%, according to Ukraine’s National Bank.

▪️By 2022, Ukraine's GDP collapsed by almost a third, the country’ Ministry of Economy admitted.

▪️According to the ministry, exports had fallen 35% in 2022 from the year before, and physical volumes of production were down 38.4%.

Migration

▪️At least six million people have left Ukraine over the past twenty months, and about four million more have remained in the new Russian territories, per Kiev-based Institute of Demography and Social Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

▪️The IMF’s statistics put Ukraine’s current population at 33.7 million people as compared to 44 million before Zelensky’s presidency

▪️“The fertility rate in Ukraine has already fallen below 1, while for population growth, the figure should be more than 2. If nothing changes, the next few years will see twice as many pensioners in Ukraine as compared to workers. There will be no one to create the GDP in the country,” the Ukrainian Institute of the Future think tank acknowledged.

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Russian forces struck the railway station in Chernomorsk, Odessa region. Trains with military equipment and shells from Romania pass through it, Nikolayev's underground coordinator Sergei Lebedev told Sputnik.

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Zelensky no longer has the right to represent Ukraine in the international arena, his signatures on documents have no legal force, Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk told Sputnik.

He added that by refusing to hold elections in Ukraine, Zelensky allowed the usurpation of power and drove the country into a legal collapse:

"This is an open usurpation of power, which contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine."

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High-ranking officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are present at the funeral ceremony for Iran’s late President, FM and officials who were tragically killed in copter crash in Tabriz

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Baerbock arrives in Kiev in a bid to legitimize Zelensky

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Ukraine's capital Kiev on an unannounced visit, DPA reports, citing its correspondent accompanying her on the trip.

According to Baerbock, as part of the German initiative to strengthen air defenses, an additional 1 billion euros ($1.85 billion) has been collected, as "Ukraine urgently needs to increase its air defense assets."

Initially, the German foreign minister was going to visit Kharkov, but changed this point of the program.

The current visit to Kiev is the seventh for Baerbock since February 2022.

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Russia is disappointed with the results of the recent vote in the UN Security Council on a draft resolution to prevent an arms race in outer space - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman

Earlier, the UN Security Council failed to adopt a Russian-drafted resolution on preventing an arms race in outer space. The resolution was rejected in a 7-7 vote, with one member country abstaining.

The United States and the United Kingdom were among those who voted against it.

"The results of the vote on the draft resolution on preventing an arms race in outer space and space security, co-sponsored by China and introduced by Russia at the UN Security Council, are disappointing. The United States and its allies, despite all the steps we took to take into account their proposals (including the development of the corresponding US-Japanese draft resolution), opposed our constructive and comprehensive initiative," Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Another opportunity to ensure the prevention of an arms race in outer space was lost due to the fault of the United States and its allies, the diplomat added.

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Brigadier General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrei Gnatov was sentenced in absentia in Russia for 28 years for crimes in Donbass in 2019, the Russian Investigative Committee said.

The court found that Gnatov ordered subordinates to carry out mortar attacks on populated areas in the Donetsk People's Republic.

After the dismissal of Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhny in February, Brigadier General Gnatov became one of the five combat commanders who applied for senior positions in the Ukrainian Armed Forces but were not appointed, according to media reports.

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