🇷🇺🇨🇺Russian naval strike group enters port of Havana, Cuba, as part of long-range cruise, Sputnik's correspondent reports

At present, the rescue tugboat of the Russian Navy "Nikolai Chiker" has arrived.

Two solemn welcoming ceremonies for Russian ships will be held successively in the port of Havana - separately for a frigate and a submarine.

A diverse tactical group of four ships, including support vessels that previously practiced the use of high-precision missile weapons in the Atlantic, will pay an official visit to the port of Havana from June 12 to 17.

The Russian sailors plan to meet with the Cuban naval command and the governor of Havana, visit historical and cultural sites.

"The visit to Cuba is just one of the tasks of a long-term campaign and is being carried out within the framework of our country's international cooperation," Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Alexander Moiseev told Sputnik.

Commenting on the visit of the Russian ships, the Cuban Foreign Ministry noted that it corresponds to the friendly relations between Cuba and Russia and strictly complies with international rules, stressing that none of the ships carry nuclear weapons and their parking does not pose a threat to the region.

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📹Fire near Israeli city of Safed, following a rocket attack from Lebanon.

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Swiss Senate voted to tighten rules for granting S protection status to Ukrainian refugees.

The decision was made in order to put an end to the so-called 'Ukrainian tourism' - when refugees receive aid, return to Ukraine, and after a few weeks they come back for more benefits.

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⚡️Armenia will withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization if the authorities deem it necessary, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced.

Responding to remarks from the audience, the Prime Minister noted: "Armenia will withdraw, we won’t go back anyways."

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🇷🇺🇨🇺 The Russian frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" entered the port of Havana, Cuba.

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🇷🇺🇨🇺 The Russian nuclear submarine "Kazan" entered the port of Havana, Cuba.

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Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan noted that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not announce the republic’s withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization: Whoever decided so is mistaken.

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Russia’s 1999 Pristina operation 'stopped the US from pushing Europe to major conflict'

“The [Slatina] airport was important from a tactical point of view. We showed that Russia cannot be thrown out of the global political process, and that the country is independent and not subordinate to NATO or anyone else,” Leonid Ivashov, former head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s main department of international military cooperation, told Sputnik.

Ivashov took part in the 1999 talks on the Kosovo settlement, adding to a decision by the head of the Russian paratroopers to move to the Slatina airport.

The march had "a geopolitical scale" as "NATO moved Europe to a war. Europeans did not want to fight or prepare for the war with Russia and they also were not interested in a conflict which could arise between the US and Russia and which could affect the economic situation in Europe and [start] a new arms race. So the Americans began to push Europe towards a major conflict,” Ivashov said.

He recalled that the Russian paratroopers successfully entering the Slatina airport had become “the most important event” that “showed the nature of Russian soldiers” who performed perfectly during the operation.

“In Pristina, our soldiers were in the spotlight. A British unit tried to seize the Slatina airport, but to no avail,” Ivashov noted. He praised efforts by Russian Special Services and those of Serbia, who “worked in such a way that not a single shot was fired by Kosovo forces at the Russian paratroopers.”

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What does Gantz’s resignation means for the future of Netanyahu’s government?

Benny Gantz’s recent resignation from the “wartime government” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not necessarily herald the immediate collapse of the government, says Tel Aviv-based international affairs expert Simon Tsipis.

The current Israeli government coalition is comprised of “two religious parties and two Zionist parties,” Tsipis explains.

Gantz’s departure initially raised concerns that the “religious parties” may withdraw from the coalition, and the departure of even one party from the coalition would trigger the collapse of the government, the analyst adds.

The recent passage of a bill on draft exemption for Orthodox Jews, however, essentially ensured that the “religious parties” will not pull out of the coalition, at least for now. Now, Gantz is apparently attempting to woo Yoav Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and a prominent member of the current Israeli cabinet who opposed the aforementioned bill.

“Gallant, is a member of Netanyahu’s party but voted against the law that Netanyahu brought forth – essentially, there is currently a schism within Likud,” Tsipis notes.
“If Gantz manages to bring Gallant to his side, to the opposition, then Gallant would leave the government,” he adds. “Then the government would collapse and new elections would be announced.”

Tsipis also suggested that Gantz’s departure from the Israeli government is unlikely to as much of an impact on the ongoing bloodbath in the Gaza Strip as the recently adopted UNSC resolution.

The United States and the UN now seek to pressure Netanyahu into ceasing the operation in Gaza and making a deal with Hamas, which would be regarded as a defeat by the Israelis, Tsipis claims.

A failure to dismantle Hamas and kill its leaders would mean the defeat of Tel Aviv, becoming an utter disaster for Netanyahu, he concludes.

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❗️LIVE: The opening ceremony of the BRICS Games in the Russian city of Kazan

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❗️Putin declared the 2024 BRICS Games in Kazan open

The sports games of the BRICS countries will become another symbol of expanding intercultural dialogue and a significant contribution to strengthening the friendship of peoples and fruitful interaction between states, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video message to the participants in the opening ceremony of the competition.

During the video message, Putin noted that this year the games are being held in an open format for the first time.

“This means that the games will become another symbol of expanding intercultural dialogue, a significant contribution to strengthening the friendship of peoples and fruitful interaction between states in the interests of people and overall development,” Putin emphasized.

The BRICS Games will be held in the Russian city of Kazan from June 12 to 24. About 5,000 athletes will take part in the competition, who will compete for 387 sets of medals. 93 countries have confirmed their participation in the BRICS Games.

The BRICS Games are an important part of comprehensive political, economic and humanitarian interaction.

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US may attempt to turn Taiwan Strait into ‘unmanned hellscape’ for Chinese Navy

Washington has a scheme aimed at devastating the Chinese military if the latter were to move on Taiwan, (even though Beijing repeatedly denies harboring such plans), Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, has said.

Under the auspices of this so-called “Hellscape” strategy, the US would deploy an assortment of drones – including UAVs, unmanned ships and unmanned submersibles – that would fall upon the Chinese fleet as the latter moves across the strait separating Taiwan from the mainland.

“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Paparo told the WP. “So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”

According to the report, Paparo refrained from providing further details but insisted that the strategy is “real and deliverable.”

Earlier this year, the US Department of Defense said it is going to spend some $1 billion on a “Replicator” program that entails building airborne and surface drone swarms for this “Hellscape” scheme. While the plan may seem solid on paper, it remains to be seen if the US can deliver what it promises if there is a conflict, not to mention that China may be able to thwart this threat.

For example, Chinese military expert Fu Qianshao reminded that Beijing has the world’s largest drone production capacity.

“We will also use a large number of aerial robots to deal with our opponents. The Americans should think about how to deal with a larger PLA drone fleet to counter them,” Fu said as quoted by the South China Morning Post.

“It is possible for the US to deploy thousands of drones to the Taiwan Strait, but the key is its airbases will be attacked and we have a series of countermeasures, including electromagnetic interference or emerging interception methods,” the analyst added.

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▪️Putin declared the 2024 BRICS Games in Kazan open

▪️Russia’s 1999 Pristina operation 'stopped the US from pushing Europe to major conflict'

▪️What does Gantz’s resignation means for the future of Netanyahu’s government?

▪️BRICS Games kicks off in Russia’s Kazan

▪️Russian naval strike group enters port of Havana, Cuba, as part of long-range cruise

▪️US to send another batch of Patriot missiles to Ukraine

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See no evil, hear no evil: US snubs own law to continue bloodbath in Gaza

Washington's provision of military supplies to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) contradicts the US' Leahy Law which prohibits assistance to foreign military involved in human rights abuses. According to the US State Department, torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, and rape are reasons to implement the law.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry issued a new report on June 12, accusing Israeli authorities of human rights abuses, including:

▪️the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or willful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity;

▪️the crimes against humanity of extermination, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys, murder, forcible transfer, and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment;

▪️a "total siege" of Gaza amounting to collective punishment against the civilian population.

On April 29, the US State Department announced it found five units of Israel's security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings, torture and physical abuse against Palestinians. Nonetheless, all four Israeli units remained eligible for US assistance.

Israel is not the only US ally whose human rights violations remain overlooked by Washington: the US has recently lifted a ban on sending weapons to Ukraine's neo-Nazi Azov Battalion* claiming that there's no evidence of "gross violations" by the group. However, the UN, Human Rights Watch, ex-Ukrainian security service members, and the commissioner for human rights in the DPR have all previously raised the alarm about the group's numerous crimes.

*banned by Russia for terrorism.

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