Russia leads overall medal count after the second day of the BRICS Games

Russian athletes have won 40 gold, 24 silver, and 14 bronze medals after two days of competitions. The Belarusians are ranked second with 7, 13, and 15 gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively, while the Chinese team is in third place with 7 gold, 7, silver, and 3 bronze medals.

The BRICS Games, which kicked off in Kazan, Russia earlier this week, will run until June 24 and feature some 5,000 athletes from over 90 countries competing for 387 medals.

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Will NATO hawks’ plans for new bases in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia work?

It’s hard to imagine that any new NATO military bases could be established in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in the near future to boost Ukraine aid, political observer Mateusz Piskorski told Sputnik.

Theoretically, the creation of new military bases takes time and requires appropriate infrastructure, the columnist for the newspaper Mysl Polska (Polish Thought) noted. Weighing in on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s concerns that the military alliance plans to establish three large military bases in the aforementioned countries, the analyst said:

“I think that this applies, first of all, to Poland and Romania, because, indeed, in these two countries a certain infrastructure already exists, and perhaps some NATO representatives, NATO hawks, believe that the existing infrastructure is insufficient for the transfer of weapons [to Ukraine] and the creation of training centers.”

The mention of Slovakia in this context surprised the pundit.

“We know full well the position of the current Slovak government on this matter. Therefore, I very much doubt that Slovakia, especially the Prime Minister [Robert Fico], will change this stance and agree to the construction of NATO military infrastructure to support Ukraine,” Piskorski said.

Regarding what purpose additional NATO military bases might serve, Piskorski speculated that they would be used as a transport hub for delivering weapons to Ukraine, training Kiev’s military, and, perhaps, as “centers for coordinating military actions on the territory of Ukraine.”

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🇷🇺🇪🇬 The Russian and Egyptian navies are holding joint exercises in the Mediterranean, focusing on maneuvering and communications, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian ships the Varyag and Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived in Alexandria for Russia Day and have now departed for the exercises.

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🗣 Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wonders for what kind of "humanitarian and energy projects" the US has allocated another $1.5 billion for Ukraine.

"Are the humanitarian projects the demolition of monuments to Pushkin, replacing the native Russian language with English and mocking the memory of those who fought fascism? And the energy ones – the shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant?" she wrote on her Telegram channel.

The White House announced earlier on Saturday that the US... would allocate more than $1.5 billion for "Ukraine's energy sector, humanitarian needs, and civil security".

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The New York Times has published what is claimed to be the Istanbul Agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which was prepared in 2022 but never signed.

Key points from the document:

◻️ The guarantor states of Ukraine's security and neutrality were Great Britain, China, Russia, the USA, France, with Belarus and Turkey mentioned in parentheses.

◻️ Ukraine was required to maintain permanent neutrality and not engage in wars on the side of a guarantor state or any third country.

◻️ Ukraine was not allowed, without the consent of the guarantor states, to conduct military exercises involving foreign armed forces.

◻️ The guarantor states pledged not to enter into military alliances with Ukraine, not to interfere in its internal affairs, and not to deploy troops on its territory.

◻️ All mutual sanctions and bans between Russia and Ukraine were to be lifted, but certain provisions of the agreement did not apply to Crimea, Sevastopol, and territories marked on one of the appendices (a map of which NYT did not provide).

◻️ Pages 11 and 12 specify the maximum personnel, weaponry, and equipment limits for the Ukrainian Armed Forces during peacetime: no more than 342 tanks, 1029 armoured vehicles, and 96 multiple rocket launchers, based on Russia's position.

◻️ The maximum firing range for multiple rocket launchers and missile armaments was noted as not exceeding 280 km, and Ukraine also committed not to produce or purchase weaponry domestically with a greater firing range.

Earlier, David Arakhamia, leader of the "Servant of the People" faction (Zelensky's party) in parliament, stated that it was Boris Johnson who convinced Ukraine to reject peace with Russia in 2022.

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

◾️ Ukrainian forces lost over 1,900 troops in battles against the Russian Army;

◾️ Russian troops took more favorable positions on the front line;

◾️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a Ukrainian tank and US-made HIMARS and M270 MLRS;

◾️ Russian air defenses shot down 54 drones, 4 Hammer guided bombs, and 10 HIMARS missiles.

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'Deliberate accounting gimmicks’ support Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine – ex-Pentagon officer

The Biden administration relies on “deliberate accounting gimmicks” to send significantly larger amounts of direct military aid to Ukraine than Congress authorized, former US Department of Defense officer David Pyne told Sputnik.

“When any discrepancies are discovered in audits, they falsely label them as ‘accounting errors’ in an attempt to conceal their deliberate efforts to exceed congressional mandates in regard to the amount of military assistance they have authorized the administration to send to Ukraine,” noted the executive vice-president of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

While Washington remains hell-bent on fueling the West’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, US arms manufacturers “are building at capacity” in an effort to replenish drained US weapons stocks, Pyne said. In the process, the White House is “further demilitarizing the US military and seriously degrading its ability to fight and win major wars.”

The US Defense Department inspector-general revealed in a new report that the Pentagon overvalued defense equipment given to Ukraine by an additional $1.9 billion.

The revelations follow similar reports last year and this January concluded that the Pentagon faced “challenges” in monitoring all of the American military equipment being funneled to Ukraine.

“Of course, these are not errors at all but a concerted effort on the part of the Biden administration to continue its betrayal of US national security interests in support of Biden’s manufactured proxy war against Russia in Ukraine which President Vladimir Putin has been admirably trying to end with a negotiated compromise peace agreement since March 2022,” remarked Pyne.

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How does Russia plan to boost its cybersecurity?

President Vladimir Putin has prohibited all Russian government agencies as well as strategic and systemically important organizations from using cybersecurity services provided by unfriendly countries starting from January 1, 2025.

Here is how the ban will boost Russia’s information security.

◾️ The ban is an extension of the May 2022 presidential decree that prohibited the use of information protection tools originating from unfriendly countries starting January 1, 2025.

◾️ Furthermore, a decree was signed stipulating the creation of specialized cybersecurity units in federal executive bodies, state funds, and corporations.

◾️ The new decree is supplemented by a ban on the use of "information security services provided (performed, rendered) by these organizations."

◾️ New restrictions “apply to the use of international open source repositories (like GitHub), cloud services and technologies.”

◾️ Import substitution, or transition to domestic software, must be completed by January 1, 2025.

◾️ New restrictions are geared to clamp down on foreign VPN services being used by companies to bypass blocks and restrictions, as per Swordfish Security.

◾️ Putin’s decree cracks down on companies using “unfriendly software in a service format,” and thus formally circumventing the previous decree.

◾️ “Individual, mainly IT companies, could offer software tool rental as a service or provision of software on a subnoscription basis. The decree will help protect critical infrastructure entities from such companies,” according to Security Code.

Putin’s decree was published the day after the US introduced new sanctions to prohibit “the supply to any person in the Russian Federation of (1) IT consultancy and design services; and (2) IT support services and cloud-based services for enterprise management software and design and manufacturing software. The determination will take effect on September 12, 2024."

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Why Israeli soldiers use low-tech medieval weapons to attack Lebanon

A group of Israeli soldiers stationed near the Israeli-Lebanese border made headlines this week after a video of them operating a medieval siege weapon went viral.

The video in question shows Israeli troops using a trebuchet to lob flaming projectiles in the general direction of Lebanon, with Israeli broadcaster and CNN affiliate Kan suggesting that it was likely an attempt to burn shrubbery and thus deprive Lebanese militants of potential cover.

Meanwhile, an Israeli military official told NBC News that the use of a trebuchet, which was apparently built by reservists stationed at the border, was not sanctioned by the Israeli brass and that the contraption would not be used again.

The anonymous official added that the trebuchet was used to immolate shrubbery in the border area.

In another viral video that surfaced last week, an Israeli soldier can be seen using a bow to shoot a flaming arrow across the border with Lebanon.

These developments take place amid the ongoing escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border, where Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets at targets in northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of a high-ranking commander by Israeli forces.

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🇷🇺🕊Putin's peace proposals on Ukraine are ‘golden opportunity’ and ‘lifeline’

Ukraine should accept Putin's peace preconditions to avoid worsening its position, Persio Gloria de Paula, an expert at the Naval War College in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told Sputnik.

Given Ukraine's losses in hardware and personnel, Russia’s proposal throws down the gauntlet to the Kiev regime and its sponsors ahead of the peace summit in Switzerland, according to the pundit.

“This calls into question the goals and effectiveness of a summit which is not attended by all the sides involved,” he said.

The conditions laid out by President Putin to resolve the Ukraine conflict are “a golden opportunity both for Kiev and its European sponsors to begin negotiations,” Iranian political scientist Emad Abshenas told Sputnik.

He noted that key terms such as a neutral, non-nuclear status for Ukraine and its demilitarization had been broadly agreed upon during the Istanbul negotiations in 2022, but Kiev rejected that deal on the West’s orders.

Ukraine's Western patrons are likely to block any acceptance of Russia’s peace initiatives this time too. “The West will continue to behave like a spoilt child who does not understand the consequences of his actions, and acts solely based on his own selfish goals," said Ünver Sel, chairman of the Federation of Crimean Tatar culture societies of Turkiye.

Putin is “throwing Europe a lifeline,” agreed Lebanese international relations analyst Mohammad Saifuddin. The Russian president’s initiative is “feasible and important for all parties, especially for Europeans who are tired of supporting Ukraine,” he noted, adding that it “may find a response in Ukrainian society before it is supported by their politicians.”

The only way to resolve the Ukraine conflict is through Russia's new peace proposal, Iranian political scientist Ruhollah Moddaber believes.

"As Putin noted, if the West fails to consider this sole means of resolving the conflict, then it will be responsible for the continued bloodshed,” he said.

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🇷🇺 Russian athletes dominate track and field at BRICS Games

Russian pole-vaulters have made a clean sweep of medals in the women's event at the 2024 BRICS Games — as their compatriots dominate other events.

Polin Knoroz cleared a height of 4.80 meters on her third attempt. Fellow Russian Aksana Gataullina took the silver with a clearance of 4.55 meters, while her compatriot Tatyana Kalinina won the bronze with a 4.45 meter-vault.

Results in other events:

◻️ Women’s 100 meters: 1. Kristina Makarenko (Russia, 11.31 seconds), 2. Natalia Kombarova (Russia, 11.42), 3. Yulia Karavaeva (Russia, 11.42);

◻️ Men’s 100 meters: 1. Danila Ten (Russia, 10.25 seconds), 2. Konstantin Krylov (Russia, 10.32), 3. Nikita Zhigar (Belarus, 10.38);

◻️ Women’s discus throw: 1. Violetta Ignatyeva (Russia, 59.96 meters), 2. Maria Ogritsko (Russia, 57.15), 3. Elena Panova (Russia, 56.37);

◻️ Women’s 800 meters: 1. Maria Prokhorets (Russia, 2 minutes 2.68 seconds), 2. Nigina Tukhtaeva (Russia, 2:03.09), 3. Ekaterina Samuilova (Russia, 2:03.16).

The BRICS Games are being held from June 12 to 24, with around 5,000 athletes from more than 90 countries competing in 387 medal events.

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🕊 The process of achieving peace in Ukraine requires Russia's participation, said the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister.

"Any credible peace process in Ukraine requires Russia's participation," said Faisal bin Farhan during his speech at a Ukraine conference in Switzerland.

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🤡 "Nobody in this room is at war with Russia," Macron declared at the "Peace Summit" in Switzerland.

Yet recently, the French president allowed Kiev to use French weapons to strike Russian territory and sent military instructors to Ukraine.

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