Peril in the Tisa River: Ukrainian draft dodgers dying from drowning, freezing, and land mines

Several Ukrainians attempting to evade the draft have died on the banks of the Tisa River after border guards laid mines to prevent escapes, highlighting the severe soldier shortage in the country.

🔸 The Ukrainian border guards have been installing anti-personnel mines on the Tisa River banks since April to prevent draft dodgers from leaving the country, according to a Sputnik source familiar with the matter. The source noted that the guards were ordered to stop draft dodgers "by any means possible."

🔸 The Tisa Riva separates Ukraine from Hungary and Romania. Those who seek to evade mobilization regularly try to cross it.

🔸 Over 6,000 Ukrainian military-aged men have swum across the river to Romania since February 2022, the New York Times reported in April, citing Romanian authorities.

🔸 Those crossing the river regularly fall victim to the cold water, poor-quality wetsuits, and obstacles which they can't see while swimming at night. Smugglers take several thousand euros from Ukrainians fleeing mobilization for giving instructions on how to cross the river, as per local newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

🔸 Ukrainian border guards have recovered the bodies of 32 people from the Tisa since the president ordered total mobilization in February 2022, as per RBK Ukraine. Ten Ukrainians drowned in the Tisa River in May only, according to the Western Regional Directorate of the State Border Service. It's impossible to say how many Ukrainians have actually drowned.

🔸 After the Kiev regime's latest draconian draft law came into force, the price to smuggle draft evaders abroad has increased from $5,000 to $20,000, according to Andrei Rubel, the head of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine.

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⚡️ Pentagon tells Sputnik that new guidance on Kiev using US weapons in Russia has just entered into force, but declines to confirm whether such strikes have already happened

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Russian Aerospace Forces and artillery hit warehouses containing weapons and military equipment of the "Foreign Legion" fighting for Ukraine, according to the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

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JCPOA: How US torpedoed Iranian nuclear deal

Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran have urged the West to demonstrate political will and take actions to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), criticizing the US, UK, France, and Germany for stalling due to political reasons.

So what is the accord all about and how was it killed off by America?

▪️Even though Iran constantly insisted that its nuclear program is purely peaceful, the West continues to claim it seeks to obtain a nuclear weapon. On July 14, 2015, the JCPOA was clinched in Vienna between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UK, China, France, Russia, and US) together with Germany and the EU.

▪️The deal stipulated Iran restricting its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment, at a level of 3.67% in exchange for the US and European nations lifting their oil and financial sanctions on Iran.

▪️In May 2018, then-US President Donald Trump announced America’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA, also reinstating the anti-Iran sanctions, in a move that came as Tehran repeatedly signaled its readiness to adhere to the deal. Trump argued at the time that the deal failed to curtail Iran’s atomic program and its alleged "proxy warfare" in the Middle East.

▪️Tehran responded by starting to gradually scrap its JCPOA commitments, specifically resuming uranium enrichment. Then-Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed last year that the US’ exit from the JCPOA rode roughshod over America’s commitments and was "an inappropriate response" to Iran’s dedication to fulfill the conditions of the agreement. Raisi urged Western powers to do their best to return to the deal.

▪️When entering office in 2021, incumbent US President Joe Biden indicated intent to resuscitate the JCPOA, which was followed by nine rounds of talks in Vienna on resuming the deal. The negotiations, however, eventually came to a standstill amid Washington’s allegations about Tehran purportedly lacking a serious approach to the issue.

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🇷🇺🇮🇳 Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and congratulated his party on its success in the Indian parliamentary elections, the Kremlin said.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the level of strategic partnership between the two countries and agreed to continue constructive personal interaction.

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Germany needs to prepare for war with Russia in the coming years, said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

“Germany needs to prepare for war by 2029,” said the German official. “We must clearly understand: a Russian victory would cost us more than the current support for Ukraine,” he added.

According to Pistorius, the restoration of compulsory military service is becoming urgent for the country.

Russia has repeatedly pointed out the absence of aggressive plans towards other states, including the countries of the North Atlantic alliance. At the same time, the Kremlin has repeatedly noted that NATO, on the contrary, is behaving destructively and aggressively, and is striving for confrontation.

According to Russia's Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, the bloc looks to expand into the post-Soviet space, which cannot bring greater security to the region.

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Russia discusses de-dollarization in trade with number of Latin American countries at SPIEF

Russia is discussing de-dollarization in trade with a number of Latin American countries, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, as well as with BRICS states, Alexander Shchetinin, the director of the Latin America Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik.

"We are negotiating business and banking structures to find the most acceptable forms of interaction, including national currencies and direct settlements," he noted.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Shchetinin emphasized that various de-dollarization methods are considered, with a focus on developing cooperation.

At the concluding press conference of SPIEF-2024, Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation and responsible secretary of the organizing committee, stated:

The fundamental principles underlying the concept of Russia's chairmanship in the BRICS grouping are sovereign equality, openness and consensus.

#SPIEF2024

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📹 Russian President Vladimir Putin is at the public and business Lakhta Center complex in St. Petersburg. The head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, tells the president about the design and construction of a multifunctional complex.

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🇸🇰 Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico said that he does not feel hatred for the person who attempted to assassinate him, and plans to return to work around June-July.

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Russia's access to UN food program reportedly restricted: who will suffer most?

Russian companies have been restricted access to the UN World Food Program, Russia’s RBC has reported, citing sources. This move will backfire on the nations of the Global South that face harsh economic challenges.

The restrictions will touch the program of food supplies for the countries that are facing natural or human-made disasters. Russia used to be an active participant of this initiative, providing up to 20% of the World Food Program supplies. Among key recipients of Russia’s aid were Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Palestine and Central Asian countries.

Russian food supplies have been discriminated by the ‘country of production’ principle, the sources reportedly said. In other cases, Russian companies faced backdated quality complaints.

The UN Global Food Program is funded via voluntary donations, which amounted to over $14 billion in 2022. Russia is among top-30 largest donors to the UN food initiative with allocations worth $30.5 million that year.

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❗️Conflict between groups of English-speaking and French-speaking mercenaries in the Ukraine-controlled part of Kherson has resulted in a shooting in which at least four people have been injured, according to a local underground network.

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Russia, Palestine, and BRICS: Three revolutionary forces changing the world

How can the global majority dethrone the American empire? This question was at the center of an elite roundtable discussion between Russian lawmakers and a delegation of foreign intellectuals on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Here are the main points from that discussion:

🔻Multipolarity is necessary since American hegemony fuels global problems instead of solving them by provoking wars and color revolutions

🔻Russia is a revolutionary power at the forefront of history. The Ukraine conflict is helping break down old unipolar world order and replace it with a more just and equitable system. Russia’s willingness to defy the West is supported by a majority of the world.

🔻Palestine is the litmus test for challenging US imperialism in the Middle East. The conflict has eroded American influence in the Middle East by weakening its main ally in the region, Israel. Palestinian cause is gaining growing support from Global South.

🔻BRICS is overtaking the UN as the premier international organization. The bloc is headed for a major expansion this year under Russia’s chairmanship, with potentially as many as 45 new member states.

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Robert Fico said he did not believe that a “lone madman” shot at him, calling him an opposition activist.

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🇮🇷 🇷🇺Iran's Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali to Sputnik at SPIEF

▫️ Expanding trade in national currencies

"The share of national currencies in transactions between Russia and Iran is growing every day. We have surpassed 70% of trade settlements in national currencies and aim to increase this percentage," Jalali said, emphasizing the move away from the SWIFT system to enhance direct financial interactions.

“Efforts are underway to further this integration, with plans to connect Russia's Mir and Iran's Shetab payment systems to facilitate card transactions for tourists and business visitors between the two countries.”

▫️ Strategic cooperation in BRICS

"Iran’s strengthening position in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) underscores its commitment to deepening multilateral economic cooperation. This includes enhancing partnerships within the oil sector, where competition is giving way to collaboration among oil-producing and consuming BRICS nations, notably with Russia, India, and China."

▫️ Countering misinformation with Sputnik’s support

"I want to thank Sputnik […]. You do not allow the spread of fake news,” Jalali said, adding that Sputnik has been instrumental in fortifying Russo-Iranian relations against the backdrop of Western media’s efforts to undermine them.

Ambassador Jalali praised Sputnik for its robust role in disseminating accurate news and providing a platform for Iranian voices, which helps counteract misleading narratives and fosters a stronger informational bridge between the two nations.

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The moderator of the SPIEF session with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a "well-known person who is deeply immersed in the topic of international relations," Presidential Adviser Anton Kobyakov told Sputnik.

“There will be an interesting person known to everyone, deeply immersed in the topic of international relations,” said Kobyakov, speaking about the moderator of the upcoming plenary session.

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Military analyst suggests US drone's flight path near Crimea сould aim to test Russian air defenses

The US-made RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is specifically designed to track down targets, Dmitry Drozdenko, a military analyst and chief editor of the Fatherland Arsenal Internet portal, tells Sputnik, commenting on information about such a drone flying over neutral waters of the Black Sea near Russia’s Crimean Peninsula for a second day in a row.

He explains that the drone earlier turned off its transponder, a control device that picks up and automatically responds to an incoming signal, something that resulted in the UAV temporarily vanishing from the Flightradar24 tracking website.

Drozdenko also suggests that the Global Hawk changing its route on Tuesday could indicate the UAV’s “provocative attempt to uncover Russian air defense systems in this area” to help the Ukrainian Army to subsequently strike them.”

The analyst adds that no actions against the drone are expected because it remains in international waters, but when it comes to rationale, the UAV should have been shot down.

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