❗️ With the mediation of the UAE, 75 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity have been returned from Ukraine-controlled territory, and 75 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been handed over in their place, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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❗️ Attempts to strike Russian territory with US weapons are already being carried out, which speaks eloquently about US involvement in the conflict, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Russia holds on to world’s No.4 biggest economy spot based on purchasing power parity

The Russian Federation has consistently maintained its position as the world's fourth-largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) since 2021, according to updated data from the World Bank and calculations by Sputnik.

Back in 2021, Russia accounted for 3.8% of the global GDP, surpassing Japan (3.7%) and Germany (3.4%). Russia's PPP GDP in 2021 reached 5.7 trillion dollars, while Japan and Germany had indicators of 5.6 trillion and 5.2 trillion dollars, respectively.

By the end of 2022, the World Bank announced that Russia had officially become the fifth-largest economy in the world, surpassing Germany. However, it is important to note that these calculations were originally based on 2017 data, and have since been updated to incorporate data from 2021.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously established the goal of positioning Russia as the fourth-largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). In line with this objective, the Cabinet of Ministers was tasked with developing and implementing measures to achieve this goal by March 31,2025.

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❗️ US officials expect that the first attacks on Russian territory using American weapons could begin within hours or days, the NYT reported, citing sources.

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Clooney's foundation targets prominent Russian journos across Europe

The George and Amal Clooney Foundation for Justice’s Docket Project plans to hunt down Russian journalists through secret arrest warrants.

Anna Neistat, director of legal affairs for the Docket Project said that the criminal codes of some European countries have an article on “war propaganda.”

The fund noted that it was preparing requests to launch cases in countries where such laws exist. If a warrant is then issued, journalists could be detained throughout Europe at the Europol level.

Neistat added that no requests have been sent yet. The names of the journalists they want to prosecute were not disclosed. The foundation says it is targeting “the most obvious Russian propagandists, the most visible of them.”

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Italy’s constitution prevents the use of Italian weapons supplied to Ukraine on Russian territory, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said.

“We have a constitution that says very clearly in Article 11: ‘Italy rejects war.’ We cannot supply weapons to strike Russia on its territory,” the statement said.

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❗️WARNING! GRAPHIC CONTENT

In Mannheim's market square, a man with an eastern appearance attacked Michael Sturzenberger, a well-known German publicist and political activist. A police officer was also stabbed, and the attacker was shot dead.

Sturzenberger is a self-described critic of Islam. He opposes the construction of mosques in Germany and accuses German politicians of not taking seriously the perceived dangers posed by the religion, which is practiced by many refugees in the country.

UPD: The police press release changed the details, saying the attacker was just “hurt” and he's alive.

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Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik's parent media group, Rossiya Segodnya, commented on recent reports on the Clooney Foundation for Justice hunting Russian journalists:

"A week ago, I was told that Amal Clooney was working on my arrest. And here comes the confirmation.

Girls! You don’t understand anything about us propagandists. For these ‘other countries’ of yours, where you are going to arrest us, I personally wouldn’t give five kopecks. Moreover, in our homeland the cherries are now in full bloom."

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Houthis threaten ‘immediate and direct response’ to US and UK shelling of Yemeni ‘targets’ in the Red and Arabian seas

“The American-British aggression will not prevent us from continuing our military operations,” Houthi official Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti said on X, formerly Twitter, vowing to “meet escalation with escalation.”

The Yemeni movement has already struck US aircraft carrier the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said, according to media reports.

Earlier in the day, American and British fighter jets carried out a series of simultaneous strikes on the barracks and equipment of the Yemeni Ansar Allah group in Sanaa (central Yemen), Hodeidah province in the west of the country and Taiz province in the southwest.

The intensive attacks on Yemen came after Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said the movement had carried out attacks against more than 100 Israeli, US and UK vessels in the Red, Arabian, Mediterranean seas and the Indian Ocean since November last year, with ten vessels coming under Houthi attacks this week.

In November 2023, Yemen's Houthi rebels vowed to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in Gaza.

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Serbian Deputy Prime Minister reveals the only thing that is allowed to be hated in Europe

💬 “This incredible idea, this anti-Russian hysteria has taken over all of Europe, and not only Europe. In Europe, at least formally, it is forbidden to hate anyone. You can't comment on anything. A man wants a uterus? Bravo, he should have a uterus, that's just a super idea, bravo! There are idiots who say we should lower the age of sexual consent. And that's fine too! The only thing to hate is Russia. I am eternally proud of President Vucic, of all of Serbia, that we haven’t become part of that. We do not hate the Russians. On the contrary, we love them very much. And what are you going to do to us?” Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin told Sputnik in an interview.

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🤡 NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called on alliance members to commit to keeping annual military aid for Ukraine at a minimum of €40 billion ($43 billion), after member states’ foreign ministers debated long-term support for Kiev.

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Germany orders more US-made Patriot systems after Ukraine aid hollows out stocks

Germany has rustled up an order for four additional Patriot systems after its own stocks were depleted by Ukraine aid, Tagesspiegel reported.

The announcement was made by Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who noted that his country had transferred two such systems to Ukraine, and that a third is on the way. As this comprises over "a quarter” of the number Berlin needs for itself, “The purchase of four more Patriots is being worked out,” Pistorius said.

The first batch was ordered in March, with delivery dates set for 2026. There are plans to order the same number of US-made air defense missile systems by 2027, NDR added.

Resourcing additional Patriot systems for the Kiev regime has become a headache for its Western patrons. The Biden administration is reportedly working on sending an additional Patriot air defense missile system to Ukraine within the Germany-initiated Immediate Action on Air Defense (IAAD) initiative. Not all of Zelensky’s European allies are eager to share their costly Patriots with Ukraine amid Russia’s advances further into Ukrainian defenses in the Kharkov region.

Since the beginning of the year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost five Patriots, the Russian Defense Ministry reported in March. Moscow has repeatedly underscored that the Patriot PAC-2 air defense systems are a legitimate target for its military like all other weaponry fueling NATO’s proxy conflict.

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🇬🇪 Georgian 'foreign agents' law targets Western influence, aims to restore national identity

The new Georgian "foreign agents" law is about upholding the nation's sovereignty and bringing a young generation of Georgians that has lost touch with who they really are back to their senses, according to former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

The claim by the West and Georgian opposition that the new legislation will "undermine democracy" in the country does not hold water.

💬 "In Georgia today, as we speak, there are 27,000 Western-funded NGOs. What are these non-governmental organizations doing?” Ritter told Sputnik. “It's about buying a generation of Georgian citizens, a young generation… a generation that is out of touch with the reality of what happened to Georgia in the 1990s."

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❗️The US will allow Ukraine to use HIMARS MLRS, GMLRS, and artillery for attacks on Russian territory, the WSJ reports, citing US officials.

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What long-range weapons does Ukraine have?

The Biden administration has licensed Ukrainian strikes using US-supplied weapons inside Russian territory for “counter-fire purposes” in the Kharkov region.

What kind of long-range weapons does Ukraine have?

◾️ The precision-guided, air-launched Storm Shadow long-range cruise missile developed jointly by France and the UK was first sent to Ukraine by London in May 2023. These missiles boast a range of up to 250 km for the export version and up to 560 km for the domestic variant. The missile has a 450 kg tandem warhead with the ability to destroy heavy fortifications, industrial facilities, railway junctions, and columns of vehicles and troops.

◾️ France sent Ukraine its version – the long-range SCALP-EG missiles – in July 2023. This is a 1,300 kg, 5.1-meter-long cruise missile with a 3-meter wingspan and an operational range of 550 km. It can accelerate to speeds up to Mach 0.95, and features GPS, inertial, and infrared thermography guidance.

◾️ US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) were secretly first sent to Ukraine in late 2023. The provided cluster-bomb versions of the surface-to-surface, inertially guided tactical ballistic missile have a range of about 100 miles (160 km) and are mounted on High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

◾️ Discreet delivery to Kiev of MGM-140 ATACMS boasting a strike range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) was finally confirmed by Washington in April.

◾️ Kiev has been looking for investments to produce its own long-range missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s advisor Mikhail Podolyak said last year.

◾️ Ukraine had a prototype of its own long-range missile with a flight range of around 700 km, Kiev officials claimed last year, adding they were seeking investments for its development.

Moscow has warned NATO that Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory using such Western-supplied military hardware could lead to a direct conflict with the alliance.

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Scott Ritter: Misreading Russia, West drags entire world into Armageddon

By giving Ukraine the green light to strike with NATO-grade weapons deep inside Russia, the West is inviting retaliation by Russia and, potentially, nuclear Armageddon, warned former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

"Russia continuously indicates it is looking for a negotiated settlement. These Russian postures, which are very reasonable, are being misinterpreted in the West as a sign of Russian weakness, and therefore the collective determination of the West is that they just continue to pressure Russia, ratchet up the pressure that Russia will fold like a house of cards, and run to the peace table and bring an end to this conflict. That's not going to happen. This is a misreading of the situation by the West," Ritter told Sputnik.

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Austrian ex-foreign minister reveals what she likes most about living in Russia

Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has said that she likes living in Russia because it is safe and there is freedom.

“I like living in Russia because there is freedom here. And freedom means living in safety. And in St. Petersburg or Moscow or Khabarovsk it is possible to walk in the park at night... It was possible in Austria 30 years ago. Now it is impossible,” she said.

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Scott Ritter: It's not about Ukraine's defense, it's about NATO attacking Russia

Western countries are permitting the use of their weapons by Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia, and this de facto means their direct engagement in the hostilities, according to former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

"It's not Ukrainian space reconnaissance, it's not Ukrainian communications, it's not Ukrainian technicians that are doing the targeting. It is the French, it is the Germans. It is the British. It is the Americans. And therefore, if these missiles, these weapons systems that are now being greenlit by the respective Western nations, to be used by Ukraine to attack targets inside Russia, if this happens, this is no longer about Ukraine defending itself. It's about NATO attacking Russia," Ritter told Sputnik.

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