US has not encouraged Ukrainian strikes outside of Ukraine, but Kiev has to make it's own decisions about how to defend itself, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposed that Western countries must allow the use of weapons they supply to Ukraine for attacks deep into Russian territory, but NATO members are divided on the move.

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Germany begins eviction of Ukrainian refugees

The administration of the Erzgebirgskreis district in Saxony, Germany, has sent a letter to about 1,000 Ukrainian refugees demanding that they vacate their apartments by mid-June, after which they will have to find housing on their own.

According to the MDR news agency, the district's official reason for the refusal was the expiration of the leases.

What do Germans think about the fact that the local authorities have finally shown their true attitude towards Ukrainians?

Comments from social networks:

💬 "I can only say: keep up it that way. It's time for something to change here. Unfortunately, in this country, the hardworking are punished, but the lazy are allowed to do everything. Ukrainian refugees have already realized this and are shirking their jobs."

💬 "There is no shortage of housing in Germany, there are just too many migrants and refugees. If they were finally deported, we would have enough room to live."

💬 "It would be nice if apartments were available to Germans and not to 'other migrants'."

💬 "There is peace in the west of Ukraine. What are they doing here at our expense?"

💬 "It is still interesting why Ukrainians crossing the border with Germany suddenly began to be automatically classified as poor and given social benefits!"

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Who is the new head of Russia's State Council?

President Vladimir Putin has appointed his aide Alexei Dyumin as the secretary of Russia’s State Council.

Dyumin previously held the office of the Tula Region’s governor since 2016 until his appointment as Putin’s aide in the presidential administration this May.

Born in 1972, Dyuimin graduated from the Voronezh Higher Military Engineering School of Radio Electronics in 1996.

From 1996 to 2013, Dyumin served in the Federal Security Service and in 1999 was assigned to the security detail of Putin himself.

In 2013, Dyumin was transferred to the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces. From December 2015 until February 2016, he held the office of deputy minister of defense.

Dyumin holds the rank of colonel general of the Russian Armed Forces and was awarded the noscript of Hero of Russia.

Russia's State Council: what is it?

The State Council is a constitutional body formed by the Russian president. Its purpose is to act as an advisory body to the president and to assist him with matters such as the primary vectors of foreign and domestic policies and issues related to social and economic development.

The council is comprised of top government officials such as the prime minister, heads of both chambers of the Russian parliament, chief of the presidential administration and governors of Russia’s regions.

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🌋🌋A fresh volcanic eruption commenced in southwestern Iceland.

Residents of adjacent areas were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

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Authorities have discarded the theory that sabotage caused late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter to crash, according to Iran's general staff.

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Allies getting ‘junk’? Find out what weapons Poland supplies to Ukraine

Poland has given Ukraine the green light to utilize the weapons it received from Warsaw to attack targets inside Russia.

Since the beginning of 2022, Poland has promoted itself as a leader in offering support to Ukraine, running up an aid bill totaling $3.5 billion. However, a key question has come to the fore: are these weapons from Poland truly new?

▪️Polish President Andrzej Duda was clear in stating that Poland will not be providing Ukraine with the modern weapons it purchases for its own army. This includes US-made Abrams tanks, Patriot air defense systems, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as South Korean-made K2 Black Panther tanks and K9 howitzers.

▪️Poland has provided Ukraine with a number of Soviet-era T-72M tanks as part of their support, which are a simplified export version of the original T-72 model. These tanks lack advanced features such as multi-channel sights, a modern fire control system, and dynamic protection.

▪️Warsaw also provided Kiev with Poland’s former USSR-supplied BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, which entered service with the Soviet army back in 1966. Forbes magazine described the BMP-1s as vehicles that “don’t actually fight” because “they’re too lightly armed, too lightly protected.”

▪️Additionally, Poland furnished Ukraine with ten Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, which the Economist reported were “not in flyable condition and were being used for spare parts.”

▪️One more mothballed piece of military hardware that Kiev received from Poland was the S-60, a Soviet short- to medium-range, single-barrel anti-aircraft gun that entered service in the 1950s.

In conclusion, it is worth noting the statement made by General Waldemar Skrzypczak, the former commander of the Polish Land Forces and deputy defense minister of Poland, regarding these shipments of outdated weapons, often labeled as "junk," to Ukraine.

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Houthis add new anti-ship ballistic missile to arsenal

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Yemen’s Houthis have obtained the necessary technology to produce Qadr missiles, Iran’s first homegrown naval ballistic missile. The weapon has a range of 1,600 - 1,900 km.

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Dollar's fall inevitable and US accelerates it

"The key event will be when the primacy of the US dollar breaks. We all know it's going to break sometime or other because it's abnormal," former foreign minister of Singapore, George Yeo, said at UOBAM's 2024 mid-year investment outlook.

The former politician was speaking about the implications of US tariffs on the economy of the Southeast Asia region, outlining the negative effect they could bring to the country itself.

"Do we know when the cookie will crumble? We don't know. But the way the US is moving is bringing forward that day," Yeo added.

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Israel can make Gaza unlivable, but it cannot destroy Hamas

"For [Israel], a full victory involves releasing the captives and most importantly, ending Hamas' rule in Gaza completely," Dr. Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor in public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, tells Sputnik. "It has been almost eight months of this war, and obviously Israel hasn't been able to achieve any of these goals."

Israel dispatched tanks on raids into Rafah on May 29 after conducting a deadly strike on a displacement camp located in the region on Sunday. According to CNN, US-made munitions were used during the Sunday attack that claimed the lives of at least 45 people and injured 200 others. Nonetheless, the Biden administration insists Tel Aviv's actions do not constitute a major ground operation that crosses any US red lines.

According to Qarmout, Israel is continuing to push ahead with the Gaza war despite growing condemnation across the world because of US protection in the UN Security Council. "The US is very complicit in this conflict," the academic stresses.

On May 29, Tel Aviv signaled that its war in Gaza would likely continue throughout 2024 at least.

"The Israelis so far don't have an exit, a way out of the Gaza swamp, the way I put it. And so far, what they're doing is destroying the civil order in Gaza, destroying the livelihood of Gaza itself," Qarmout says, asking how long the international community will tolerate this genocidal war.

What the Benjamin Netanyahu cabinet can achieve is destroying Gaza from a civil perspective, making it an unlivable place, but it does not mean they would finish Hamas, according to the academic.

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“River of Death": Ukrainians drown en masse fleeing the draft

The Economist has reported on dozens of deaths among Ukrainian men of military age trying to cross the Tisa River, a deadly but popular escape route out of the country.

Up to 40 people cross the river every day, trying to escape being sent to the war zone. One of the guides spoke about a group of 96 fugitives.

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▪️EXCLUSIVE: Zelensky has become an impostor since May 21 – former Ukrainian PM

▪️What is the Spanish Legion, whos militants have appeared in Ukraine?

▪️What weapons Poland sends to Ukraine as Warsaw allowed to use it against targets in Russia

▪️Israel can make Gaza unlivable, but it cannot destroy Hamas

▪️From howitzers to hypersonics: Top 6 North Korean weapon systems

▪️A $32 million MQ-9 Reaper drone operated by the US military was downed by Houthis over Yemen

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Georgia’s efforts to protect itself from foreign meddling cause US outrage

The United States’ anger over the new foreign agents law recently adopted in Georgia stems from the fact that non-government organizations and media currently remain the only regime change tool at the West’s disposal in this Caucasus region country, says Arno Khidirbegishvili, general director and chief editor of the Georgian Information and Analytical Agency "GEOINFORM."

During the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, Khidirbegishvili explains, the West had many more options available: “the Saakashvili regime itself, president Saakashvili, [foreign] aid, credits, investments and all the rest.”

“Today, only the non-government organizations and media are left – that is, foreign agents and their funding. And so we – the government, that is – hit them where it hurts, the bullseye,” he tells Sputnik. This is why the protests against the law in question started, Khidirbegishvili explains – Western powers realized that they were losing their hold on Georgia.

According to him, Western attempts to destabilize the situation in Georgia, which involve efforts to destroy Georgia's currency, may lead to armed clashes within the country. That, in turn, could be used as a pretext for a military intervention by a “peacekeeping” NATO force, he suggests.

Meanwhile, Western pressure aimed at bringing Georgia to heel and turning it into a weapon against Russia only evokes outrage among the Georgian people, Khidirbegishvili adds.

“If the grand purpose of the United States and the foreign agents in Georgia, including their leader [Georgian] President Zurabishvili, was to somehow push Georgia towards Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union, then they succeed splendidly,” he quips.

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Blinken’s visit to Moldova: $50mln for professional reporters on “malign Russian influence”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Moldova “to support its aspirations to join Western institutions.” However, Western institutions influenced Moldovan politics by bringing President Maia Sandu to power and steering the country toward confronting Russia.

Meeting Moldova’s president during his visit, Blinken said the White House would ask Congress to earmark an additional $50mln “to help Moldova, among other things, in counteracting Russian influence.”

Among the Western initiatives to counter Russian influence in Moldova, Sandu was the most cost-effective. A former World Bank employee and J.F. Kennedy School of Government graduate, Sandu severed ties with Russia, invited US military for maneuvers, and brought in German police for "security." In an interview with Le Monde, Sandu pledged to "help Ukraine with everything it needs," likely including arms. Here are her helpers:

🔶 The US-based International Republican Institute (IRI). It specializes on elections and recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its activity in Moldova. It was the IRI that recommended Sandu’s candidacy in 2015.

🔶 Soros Foundation Moldova. It promotes the “reform of the police and the internal affairs system.” In the framework of that reform, a special State Protection and Security Service was established, and whose job is to protect “pro-European” high officials. German policemen were invited for “border security.”

🔶 National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which is busy “fighting malign Russian influence.” Its local “partners” live by “deconstructing manipulative narratives,” or just reporting on the media critical of Sandu.

🔶 USAID is also fighting “malign” Russia, but in the ways of “conflict prevention.” Judging by USAID’s track record in Haiti (numerous coups, murder of the president) and Libya (10-year civil war), Moldova might want to carefully consider the implications of following its guidance.

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