⚔️ Recent Russian missile strike on strategic Ukrainian airfield exposes F-16’s vulnerability

NATO's promised F-16 jets to Ukraine may be targeted and destroyed by Russia's surgical strikes, similar to the recent attack that took out five Su-27 fighters at Mirgorod airfield, according to Dmitry Kornev, founder of the Military Russia site. Kornev explained to Sputnik that if the airfield where the Western-delivered aircraft are stationed is too far out of reach for Russia's Iskander missiles, they might use their Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile, which has a greater range.

The strike targeting Ukraine’s Su-27s was a triumph owing to several factors, Kornev clarified. There was “successful reconnaissance,” he noted, and the distance to the airfield allowed the Iskander missiles to reach the target.

The expert speculated that some of the jets might be theoretically restored, but for now, they are effectively out of action.

The raid on the Mirgorod airfield was described by Forbes as possibly “one of the costliest single days” for the Kiev regime. The publication mentioned an upsurge of Ukrainian bloggers who rushed to place the blame on the country’s air force officers for allowing crews to park the Su-27s in the open, so close to the front line.

Kornev suggested that the fate of the F-16s that the Netherlands will deliver to Ukraine will be similar to that of the Su-27 jets. He stated that Russia will rely primarily on intelligent reconnaissance and secondly on keeping its strike assets ready

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 We are not creating any blocs or alliances, we are simply acting in the interests of our peoples, Putin emphasized at negotiations with China's Xi Jinping at the SCO summit.

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🇨🇳🇨🇳 In-depth footage from Laos: The China's People's Liberation Army arrives in the South Asian country to participate in the Friendship Shield-2024 exercise, which will be held from July 5 to 18.

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The EU may renew the contract with Russia's Gazprom for gas supplies after 2024

Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are concerned that the agreement between Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz for the supply of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine will expire on December 31 2024. The EU is considering negotiating a new gas transit deal with Gazprom, Germany's Handelsblatt reports.

“Transit through its territory depends on Ukraine. They have their own established rules. It depends on their desire. Russia is ready to supply,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.

In March, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Ukrainian authorities do not plan to renew the gas transit contract with Gazprom, which expires at the end of 2024.

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US President Joe Biden told a close ally he is wondering whether to stay in the election race, and understands the problems caused by his bumbling debate performance against Donald Trump, according to the New York Times.

The White House has already labelled the report a “lie”.

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During a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Vladimir Putin accepted his invitation to visit Kazakhstan in November.

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Belarus’ accession fortifies SCO's Eurasian element

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a platform with the potential “to become a strong trading and economic forum,” Dr. Anuradha Chenoy, a retired professor at the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Sputnik.

"The SCO is a voluntary platform focusing on common economic and security interests (among its members), along with cultural understanding of one another. These countries do not believe in interference in domestic affairs,” she highlighted.

Belarus’ accession to the SCO “fortifies the undeniable Eurasian nature of the SCO,” Chenoy remarked. She suggested that the organization be seen as "both regional and Eurasian, since Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan straddle Eurasia, while India and China are clearly Asian. Iran is part of West Asia, and shows again the contiguity of geography that connects this region naturally." 

Commenting on how the expansion of the SCO may affect the collective West, Chenoy noted that “the idea of Eurasia, and the assertion of rights by formerly colonized people, do not go down well with them.”

"The collective West is divided by the Atlantic, and their idea of the West is based on being "exceptional", and possessing the right to dominate and set rules for the rest of the world - rules that primarily suit their Western elites.”

“The truth is, the global majority seeks pluralism and neither desires war nor seeks to threaten the West. That is only part of their (West) imagination - that the rise of Eurasia, or that of any other country, threatens them. Therefore, the expansion of the SCO may be challenged by forces in the West," speculated the analyst.

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Is Kamala Harris set to take over from Biden?

US Vice-President Kamala Harris' allies are discussing her possible candidacy if Joe Biden pulls out of the presidential election race, CNBC reports. They are said to be pushing other donors and party officials to reconsider the potential benefits of the current vice-president's "portfolio."

Dozens of US Democratic congress representatives are preparing an appeal to Biden to withdraw from the elections, writes Bloomberg.

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US Senator Laphonza Butler: Biden cannot be accused of being absent-minded because... everyone likes to sleep 🤷‍♂️

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: "President Kamala Harris"

Are they not even hiding it anymore?

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The US is providing Ukraine with a new $2.2 billion military aid package that includes air-defense and other munitions, the US Defense Department said.

The $2.2 billion package in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds comes in addition to $150 million in Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the Pentagon said in a statement.

The USAI funds will be used to purchase interceptors for PATRIOT and NASAMS air defense systems, the statement said, adding that the PDA package will include missiles for HAWK air defense systems, ammunition for HIMARS, artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armor systems and TOW missiles, among other equipment.

Moscow has repeatedly warned NATO countries that by supplying arms to Ukraine, they are both prolonging the conflict and dangerously escalating it.

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BRICS calling shots in economic growth while G7 loses steam and prestige

By the end of 2023, the share of the BRICS countries in global gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) reached a record 35.7 percent, surpassing the G7's 29 percent, judging from the World Bank data.

How has BRICS risen to prominence?

▪️BRICS, an acronym for five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, now encompasses nine members after the admission of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the group in January 2024.

▪️ BRICS+ now comprises almost 46 percent of the world's population and around 36 percent of global GDP. The group is expected to grow further with over 40 countries expressing interest in joining and 22 formally submitting their applications last year.

▪️ The G7 is a group of seven industrialized nations: the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK. It accounts for almost 10 percent of the world population but around 30 percent of global GDP.

▪️ IMF and World Bank data on GDP — measured in PPP terms — has over the years demonstrated a steady decline in the share of the G7 in global wealth. In 1982 the G7 accounted for 50.4 percent of the world's GDP in PPP terms, but shrank to 30.3 percent in 2022. At the end of the last year this figure fell to 29 percent and is projected to drop to 27.8 percent by 2028.

▪️ In contrast, the share of GDP in PPP terms of BRICS nations increased from 10.66 percent in 1982 (excluding Russia, then part of the USSR) to 31.5 percent in 2022. In 2023, the share of the BRICS countries increased by 0.6 percentage points over the year, reaching 35.7 percent.

The G7's global influence has likewise diminished, while the power and the prestige of platforms represented by major developing economies is steadily growing, according to US think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations.

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An Arkansas weapons facility suffered an explosion which injured two and left another person unaccounted for, the Associated Press reported.

The explosion occurred at a General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems defense facility in the US state of Arkansas.

"At this time, we are working with first responders and can confirm the incident resulted in at least two injuries and one missing individual," Berkley Whaley with General Dynamics said in a statement.

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