📹🔥Russian paratroopers are actively using FPV drones near Chasov Yar, a village being fought for in the Donbass.

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Shooting at US Embassy in Lebanon

• What is known so far?

▪️A Syrian man opened fire on the US Embassy in Beirut at 08:34 local time (5:34 GMT). Soldiers stationed in the area returned fire, wounding the attacker. He was detained and taken to hospital, according to the Lebanese army.

▪️The US Embassy confirmed that the assailant opened fire with small arms in the area of the embassy entrance. No members of the diplomatic corps were injured, the embassy said. American diplomats are in close contact with Lebanese law enforcement officials.

▪️The attacker shot a guard at the US Embassy in Beirut and Lebanese forces returned fire, shooting the gunman, The National reported, citing a diplomatic source.

▪️Photo of the suspected attacker was shared online.

▪️Tight security measures have been put in place near the US Embassy in the Beirut suburb of Aaoukar after the shooting at the embassy headquarters in Lebanon.

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A member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was attacked with a knife in Mannheim.

In Mannheim, an AFD candidate for local elections was injured in a knife attack. The perpetrator was arrested, reports Die Welt.

The politician is still in the hospital, but only suffered cuts.

The AfD reported it was an attack by left-wing extremists, but the information hasn't been officially confirmed, according to the news agency.

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🚀🧑‍🚀Virtual Yuri Gagarin greets guests at Smolensk Region stand at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to leave the confines of Earth and enter space.

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NATO launches 'largest' drills in Baltic Sea amid efforts to militarize area

NATO's Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS) exercises have begun in the Baltic Sea, the Lithuanian Armed Forces' press service announced.

About 9,000 military personnel, more than 50 ships and more than 80 aircraft from 20 alliance countries will take part in the maneuvers. The US Navy's Sixth Fleet is in charge of organizing the exercises.

"In terms of scale, this will be the largest exercise ever conducted in the Baltic Sea," the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.

Sweden will also participate in the exercises for the first time since it joined NATO.

Russia has repeatedly said that NATO's actions could lead to a deterioration of regional security. Moscow's diplomatic and military posture in the region has demonstrated conclusively that Russia has no comparable megalomaniacal NATO-style plans to turn the Baltic Sea into its 'lake'.

Today, Russian military activities in the region are almost exclusively aimed at blocking NATO's efforts to strangle its assets by militarizing the strategic area.

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❗️Total losses of Ukrainian troops over the last day was 1,590 soldiers, according to the report of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

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

▪️Units of the Tsentr Battlegroup defeated four enemy brigades in one day, repelled five attacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to 360 military personnel;

▪️Units of the Vostok Battlegroup occupied more advantageous positions within 24 hours and destroyed up to 125 soldiers;

▪️Units of the Sever Battlegroup have improved the situation along the front line. Ukrainian losses amounted to 290 soldiers;

▪️Units of the Yug Battlegroup have improved the situation along the front line over the last 24 hours. Ukrainian losses amounted to 230 soldiers;

▪️In one day, Russian air defenses shot down 55 Ukrainian drones, ten HIMARS and Alder missiles, two Hammer bombs, and two Patriot air defense missiles.

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🇧🇾Belarus will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

"Following the results of the Astana Summit in July, the number of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will reach double digits after Belarus joins as a full participant," the organization's Secretary General Zhang Ming said, stressing that this expansion will be a "historic breakthrough".

The SCO is an international organization established in 2001. It includes India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

In July 2023, at the SCO summit in New Delhi, Iran became a full member of the organization. In the same place, Belarus signed a memorandum of obligations to obtain the status of a member state.

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❗️LIVE: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov holds joint press conference with Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Traore

👉 Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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