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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❗️LIVE: Russian FM Sergey Lavrov holds press conference after Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states' Council of Foreign Ministers meeting

👉 Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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Key statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at a briefing:

▪️"The situation is curious in terms of readiness to use sanction methods," Peskov commented on the US reaction to the International Criminal Court's decision against the Israeli authorities.

▪️The position of Ukrainian forces on the fronts is unfavorable, the Ukrainian military is in a difficult situation.

▪️ The rhythm of supplies of military products to Kiev, if it is restored, will not allow to change the dynamics on the fronts.

▪️ The Russian Federation failed to achieve the adoption of an appropriate resolution on outer space, as the West was against it.

▪️"We start from the position outlined by Putin in China," Peskov said about the legitimacy of Zelensky's presidency after May 20. Earlier, the Russian president said that the question of Zelensky's legitimacy should be answered by the legal system of Ukraine itself.

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"US aviation sanctions, including against Iran, and a ban on the supply of spare parts, put people in danger, the United States is deliberately harming ordinary citizens," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference.

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❗️EU approves use of proceeds from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine: 90% will go to support Ukrainian armed forces, Czech Foreign Ministry announced.

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❗️Russian Tsentr combat group improved tactical situation during day and repulsed seven Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukrainian losses amount to 420 servicemen.

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

▪️Units of the Vostok combat group took more advantageous positions. Ukrainian forces lost up to 145 servicemen;

▪️The Dnepr group of troops defeated three Ukrainian brigades, the enemy lost up to 105 servicemen;

▪️The Yug combat group destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition dump. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 320 soldiers;

▪️The Russian air defense system shot down 45 Ukrainian drones, two ATACMS missiles, eight SCALP-EG missiles, five Hammer bombs, four HARM missiles, eight HIMARS shells and one "Olkha" missile.

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Russian Foreign Minister on Zelensky's hysteria at a meeting with ambassadors in Ukraine's capital, Kiev:

Zelensky, discussing the "peace conference" in Switzerland with foreign ambassadors in Kiev, "in raised tones, almost hysterical tones, demanded to support his formula for peace as a means to force Russia to kneel," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following the SCO Ministerial Council in Kazakhstan.

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Tears of Iranian Cabinet Members at the Funeral Ceremony for the late Iranian President, Foreign Minister and officials who tragically died in a helicopter crash in Tabriz.

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