More than 180 candidates running in France’s parliamentary race refused to take part in the run-off in order to prevent the 'National Rally' party from winning

◾️After the first round, Macron and the leftists wasted no time in declaring their intention to oppose Le Pen's party. They called on those who came in third to withdraw from the run-off. Their strategy involved encouraging voters to support the main competitors of the 'National Rally'.

◾️According to Le Monde, 121 candidates from the leftists, 60 from the president’s coalition, and several contenders from other parties refused to continue running in the election race.

◾️The 'National Rally' leader Jordan Bardella has already condemned such tactics and slammed these moves as 'dishonest and unnatural'.

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"The world will tremble" after the escalation that Belarus is being dragged into, President Alexander Lukashenko says.

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❗️Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov has approved the schedule for constructing the new Russian space station. It should be completed in 2033.

Contracts have also been signed for the building of the station itself, along with a new spacecraft, launched by the Angara-class rocket to carry cosmonauts and supplies to the station from the Vostochny cosmodrome.

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🎥 Yemeni Houthis have released a video promising to sink the aircraft carrie, USS Theodore Roosevelt, once its arrives in Red Sea waters.

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❗️ Nine Ukrainian aircraft were hit in 24 hours, the Russian Ministry of Defense says — following reports that the Netherlands will soon transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Five operational Su-27s and two more that were under repair were destroyed at the Ukraine's Mirgorod airfield by Iskander ballistic missiles, the ministry said earlier.

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Here are the latest statements by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

🔸Putin and Modi will discuss regional and global security issues, as well as trade and economic cooperation;

🔸The Kremlin does not expect anything from Orban’s visit to Kiev;

🔸During Orban's visit to Kiev, the responsibilities for Brussels' interests will take precedence, due to Hungary's Presidency of the EU Council.

🔸Peskov declined to comment on Trump's remarks regarding the potential resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.

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'It has been practically studied, there are no secrets left for us'

Russian experts have fully studied the ATACMS missile fuze, which consists of many components and mechanisms.

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Foreign-made equipment destroyed, hit or intercepted by the Russian armed forces over the past 24 hours:

▪️ Bayraktar TB2 UAV (Turkish-made)
▪️ Three M198 155 mm howitzers (US-made)
▪️ One FH70 155 mm howitzer (British-made)
▪️ One L119 105 mm howitzer (British-made)
▪️ One M777 155 mm howitzer (US-made)
▪️ One Panzerhaubitze-2000 155 mm self-propelled howitzer (German-made)
▪️ Two AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radars (US-made)
▪️ Six "Storm Shadow" cruise missiles (British-made)
▪️ One "Hammer" guided aerial bomb (French-made)
▪️ One HIMARS missile (US-made)

More from the Russian MoD briefing:

🔸 The Armed Forces of Ukraine lost 1800 servicemen in the last 24 hours.

🔸 Russian air defenses shot down 81 UAVs in 24 hours.

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🎥 Criminals used to smuggle cigarettes from Ukraine, but now they traffic Ukrainians themselves — it's more profitable.

A minibus with hiding places seized by the Ukrainian border service was earlier typically used for smuggling cigarettes. Now it's used to smuggle draft dodgers as well.

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Hungarian PM Victor Orban's statements after meeting with Zelensky in Kiev:

◾️ Orban said he asked Zelensky to consider any opportunity for a ceasefire before peace talks and thinks it could speed up negotiations;

◾️ Hungary is ready to help with the modernization of Ukraine's economy;

◾️ The issue of peace in Ukraine will be the main one during the next 6 months of the Hungarian EU Presidency.

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Russia unveils disposable drone fitted with warhead to intercept enemy UAV

The Vogan-9SP disposable drone, designed to intercept enemy drones by detonating its own warhead, was developed in Russia.

The UAV was presented to the public at the "Technologies of UAV detection and countermeasures" conference held in St. Petersburg on July 1 and 2.

According to developers, the quadrcopter-type drone’s specifications include:
▪️ designed to intercept enemy "kamikaze" drones;
▪️ can reach speeds up to 200 km/h;
▪️ works in conjunction with a radar station and a laser system to detect targets;
▪️ homes in on the target using its automatic guidance systems;
▪️ detonates the warhead located in the nose upon reaching the target;
▪️ positioned in a 45-degree angled launch tube, it takes off from a guide rail;
▪️ before destroying an enemy drone, the Vogan-9SP must receive a command from the operator, who makes a decision based on the image from its camera.

The system is already being tested, and an improved drone is being developed able to reach speeds of over 250 km/h.

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🎥 WATCH: Attack drone operators from the 123rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Yug battlegroup destroy the positions and manpower of Ukrainian 10th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade near Seversk.

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I can, you can't: Baerbock's plane breaks her own party's night flight ban

In Frankfurt, flights are banned after 11 pm — a policy of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. But that did not prevent party member and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock taking a flight to Luxembourg on a military plane at 11:56 pm, after the Germany-Switzerland football match, according to Bild.

Is "climate change" canceled?

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❗️Ukraine’s Kraken* neo-Nazis flee Chasov Yar before regular units arrive

The Nazi Ukrainian battalion Kraken* fled from their positions in Chasov Yar before regular units had arrived, a Ukrainian prisoner of war named Valentin Gridnev told Sputnik.

The prisoner revealed that Kraken* militants, who were deployed on the second line in Chasov Yar, were supposed to cover regular units.

"They promised that we would be protected by Kraken*, but when we arrived, our superiors already knew that there was no one there, they left us high and dry. Yeah, we were pulling up, when the last of their vehicles left, so we were on our own," he divulged.

*Kraken battalion is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.

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Le Pen accuses Macron of plotting ‘administrative coup’

French President Emmanuel Macron, coping with his party’s failure in the elections, is plotting an “administrative coup,” said the leader of the 'National Rally' party, Marine Le Pen, on radio 'France Inter'.

"There are rumors that the President is going to consider the possibility of replacing the Director General of the National Police, that is, four days before the run-off election. Although he was supposed to remain in office until the end of the Olympic Games. The same fate awaits the National Gendarmerie Director," the politician said.

She claims that the purpose for this rush in appointments is to prevent 'National Rally' leader Jordan Bardella from being able to govern the country "the way he wants" if the RN wins a majority of votes in the second round of the parliamentary elections, and he gets the post of prime minister.

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Who is Ukrainian MP Bezuglaya, nemesis of Ukrainian generals?

People's deputy of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Maryana Bezuglaya has made a complaint to the State Bureau of Investigations accusing Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky and his predecessor General Valery Zaluzhny of "obstructing the activities of a Ukrainian member of parliament," which constitutes an offense under Article 351 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
She also called the country's military leadership a "swamp incapable of change."

What is known about Bezuglaya?
▪️ She was born in Kiev in 1988. Having graduated from the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy she completed the US State Department International Leadership Program.
▪️ Bezuglaya was a member of Zelensky's ruling party, Servant of the People, until she left in February 2024. She still holds the position of deputy chairman of the Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
▪️ She gained prominence in November 2023 after heavily criticizing then Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny over Ukraine's failed counteroffensive.
▪️ She hit the headlines again in December 2023 when she commented on new mobilization rules and called for Ukrainian women to be drafted.
▪️ In February, Bezuglaya slammed the ruling party over its inability to change and address corruption issues.
▪️ In May, she accused the Ukrainian top brass of "destroying [Ukraine's] chances for change and victory." She attacked Syrsky for "hiding the truth" and called Commander of the Ground Forces Oleksandr Pavliuk "a minion with a tendency to have nervous breakdowns."
▪️ She lambasted commander of Joint Forces Yury Sodol for the failed defensive of the Kharkov region. On June 24, Sodol was replaced with Andriy Gnatov.
▪️ In a separate statement in May, Bezuglaya accused Defense Minister Rustem Umerov of "incompetence", adding that the military leadership sends untrained people to the front leading to massive manpower losses.

Political commentators say Bezuglaya is a "puppet" of Andriy Yermak, who runs Volodymyr Zelensky's presidential office, and is used to shift the blame for military defeats on the top brass.

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Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov on the program of Putin’s trip to the SCO summit in Kazakhstan's Astana (July 3-4):

▪️Putin will meet with Turkiye's president Erdogan to discuss the prospects for further joint work.

▪️The Kremlin expects Putin and Erdogan to discuss the Russian leader’s planned visit to Turkiye.

▪️A meeting is also planned with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

▪️The president will hold negotiations with the leaders of Mongolia, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, and the vice president of Iran.

▪️A separate meeting with Belarusian Presidnet Alexander Lukashenko is not planned, but they will find time to talk.

▪️SCO leaders will adopt a declaration following the summit and sign a document on commitment to the principles of good neighborliness and unity.

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Who is still conducting nuclear tests? Part 1 (👉 Part 2)

Fifty years ago, on July 3, the Soviet Union and the US signed the Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests. The subsequent Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996 never came into force. Eight of the 44 countries that had nuclear potential and technology at the time - Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, China, North Korea, Pakistan, and the US - either did not sign it or failed to ratify it. Russia renounced the treaty in 2023 — but said this does not mean that it intends to conduct nuclear tests.

Since the first US nuclear test on July 16, 1945, more than 2,000 blasts have been conducted by at least eight nations, according to the Arms Control Association.

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