📹 Watch Russian military destroy Ukrainian S-300 SAM position in Ukraine’s Poltava region

The strike by the Iskander-M system destroyed two launchers, a combat control room, a vehicle transport and personnel of Ukraine's anti-aircraft missile units, the ministry said.

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🇨🇳 Devastating tornado strikes China's Shandong province, leaving one dead and 79 injured

The damage caused by the natural disaster is still being assessed, reports said.

Shandong has an average of 1.5 tornadoes per year, according to the China National Climate Center.

Video: Social Media

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❗️Russian forces hit the Ukrainian Air Force's Martynovka airfield in the Nikolayev region; an explosion damaged an airplane, Sergei Lebedev, coordinator of the Nikolayev underground movement, told Sputnik

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❗️Russia's Tsentr Battlegroup has liberated the village of Sokol in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Defense Ministry said

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Freudian slip or candid confession? Biden dazzles with wit at campaign event

"By the way, I couldn't ponder! Ugh, I guess I shouldn't say it. By the way, I couldn't be prouder!"

Well, at least he's fair.

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❗️Units of Russia's Sever Battlegroup hit troops and equipment of four Ukrainian brigades and repelled five attacks during the day, according to the Ministry of Defense.

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

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 650 soldiers in the area of responsibility of the Yug Battlegroup in a day;

▪️The Zapad Battlegroup occupied more advantageous positions and defeated the formations of eight Ukrainian brigades;

▪️The Russian Army destroyed two Ukrainian S-300PS air defense missile launchers and hit Ukrainian storage facility;

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 415 soldiers and three infantry fighting vehicles, including a Bradley, in the area of responsibility of the Tsentr Battlegroup;

▪️The daily losses of Ukrainian troops in the area of responsibility of the Zapad Battlegroup amounted to 540 soldiers;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down three Storm Shadow missiles, a HARM missile and three HIMARS missiles in one day.

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'Broken promises' fed voters' rage ahead of UK elections - media

The victory of Britain’s Labour Party at the ballot on Friday was driven by profound disillusionment and anger in the population, according to Politico.

It was “broken promises and broken trust” by successive Tory governments that spurred, in effect, a protest vote, the publication speculated.

The UK has witnessed a dizzying turnover of leaders at No 10 in past months, presenting a bleak picture.

▪️The UK’s eagerness to pump funds into the West’s proxy war in Ukraine helped drive inflation to a 40-year high in 2022.

▪️The economy shrank 0.1% between July and September last year, and then by another 0.3% between October and December, signaling a recession at the end of 2023.

▪️Backfiring anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West resulted in accelerated inflation, prompting energy prices to soar, hitting household finances.

▪️Lackluster growth was prevalent, with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increasing by 4.3% from 2007 to 2023, according to research by the Resolution Foundation.

▪️Living costs surged, with food prices about 31% higher than they were three years ago, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

▪️Wages in the UK have stagnated for 15 years after adjusting for inflation.

▪️Food bank use has almost doubled in a span of five years.

▪️The National Health Service has a backlog of 7.6 million cases.

▪️Poor road maintenance resulted in vehicle breakdowns growing by 9% in the last year due to potholes, the RAC reported.

▪️Prisons are filled beyond operating capacity.

▪️40% of England’s universities are expected to run budget deficits this year, a report by the Office for Students (OfS) stated.

▪️A surge in irregular migration via small boats crossing the English Channel from Europe was at an all-time high in 2022, and the Tory government’s Rwanda policy and the Illegal Migration Act have been costly failures.

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❗️EXCLUSIVE❗️What will Iran's foreign policy be under the new President Pezeshkian?

Masoud Pezeshkian, the newly elected president of Iran, spoke to Sputnik on the eve of the election about the main priorities of Iran’s foreign policy: strengthening relations with Russia and China, Iran’s active presence in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the lifting of sanctions.

🔸“Russia is a friend and partner of Iran, and I consider it a priority to deepen and expand relations with Russia and China, as well as intensify foreign policy activities in the Asian direction in general. And we, of course, at all levels – bilateral, regional and international – will continue our efforts to expand interaction with the Russian Federation.”

🔸“Iran opposes the policy of unidirectionality and is a supporter of the principle of multipolarity. In addition, one of the priorities of my foreign policy program is regional cooperation, and for this purpose, Iran will expand its presence in BRICS and the SCO, as well as strive for more active cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union to more fully realize the potential of trade and economic relations with the member countries of these organizations."

🔸“The JCPOA is an international agreement approved by the UN. The American withdrawal from this agreement was unilateral, and this caused serious damage to Iran and the Iranian people. As the Russian side has repeatedly emphasized, Iran has fulfilled its obligations, and we see our task as returning the other participants to this agreement as soon as possible and achieving the lifting of sanctions. I am confident that the friendly governments of Russia and China will support Iran and assist it in resolving this issue.”

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🇷🇺🇮🇷 Russia and Iran have completed the merger of the Mir and Shetab payment systems, said the head of the Central Bank of Iran.

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🇭🇺 Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, who recently visited Kiev and Moscow, announced his intention to hold several “equally unexpected” meetings next week.

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'Kill-crazy' foreign mercs in Ukraine bragged about executing Russian PoWs – report

Foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of the Kiev regime reveled in executing Russian prisoners, the New York Times has reported.

The killings are believed to have been carried out by members of the so-called “Chosen company” incorporated with Ukraine’s Armed Forces. One incident from August 2023 was described to the outlet by a witness, the unit’s medic, a German called Caspar Grosse.

Grosse said that a wounded and unarmed Russian soldier seeking medical help from his foreign captors was shot in cold blood. First one mercenary shot the Russian in the torso, and then, as he slumped still breathing, another soldier “just shot him in the head,” Grosse recalled.

In another episode, a Chosen company fighter “threw a grenade at a surrendering Russian soldier who had raised his hands, killing him,” the outlet stated, referencing reviewed drone footage. It was added that the Ukrainian military had published a video of this episode but edited out the surrender moment.

Militants from the company of foreign hirelings and thrill-seekers reportedly talked freely about the murders of prisoners of war in group chats.

At the center of all these three incidents was reportedly a Greek mercenary with callsign Zeus who bragged “a thousand times” about killing the surrendering Russian, claimed Grosse.

Around 3,100 mercenaries continue to fight for the Kiev regime, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said in April. Moscow has stressed that regardless of their status, military officials or mercenaries “represent a legitimate target for our armed forces."

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🇭🇺 Hungarian PM Viktor Orban spoke about the details of his visit to Moscow:

▪️ He called the search for a solution to the Ukrainian conflict his “Christian duty,” albeit with possible consequences for himself in the West;

▪️ Information about the preparation of the visit to Moscow was kept secret, because “communications means are under total surveillance by the big guys”;

▪️The order to prepare the meeting two days before was “secretly” transferred to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry;

▪️Information was leaked only at the moment when a request was made for the aircraft to fly through Polish space;

▪️The Hungarian PM noted that the visit was dictated by the interests of the world and his country;

▪️At the meeting he directly asked three questions: are peaceful negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict possible; is a ceasefire realistic before they begin; and what could the security architecture of Europe look like;

▪️Orban stated that he received answers to these questions, the conversation lasted about three hours;

▪️The negotiations were not a new experience for him, since he had met with Putin before.

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Russian Air Defenses' performance in numbers

Air Defense Troops of the Russian Ground Forces are a robust combat unit carrying out regular defense duties, reconnaissance of enemy aircraft, elimination of enemy air attacks, and participation in theatres of military actions.

Some of the most notable defense systems include the Triumf mobile surface-to-air missile, Prometey road-mobile air and missile defense system, Tor short-range air defense system, Pantsir surface-to-air missiles, Buk and Vityaz complexes, and Igla man-portable anti-aircraft missile system.

Check out Sputnik’s infographic to learn more!

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🇷🇺✈️ Russian Su-25 attack aircraft crews fired unguided aircraft missiles at a Ukrainian stronghold and troops in the area of responsibility of the Vostok Battlegroup.

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🇲🇱🇳🇪🇧🇫 The presidents of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signed a charter establishing a confederation

According to a Sputnik correspondent, the presidents of the countries “signed on Saturday in the Niger's capital of Niamey a charter establishing a confederation of the Sahel Alliance, which will include these three countries,” which ceased to participate in the regional organization Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

What you need to know about the new confederation created by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger:

▪️The establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) marks “an additional step towards further integration between the member states” of the AES, according to the final communiqué;

▪️An AES investment bank and a stabilization fund for member countries will be created;

▪️The leaders of the alliance wish to “pool their resources” in strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport;

▪️They demand that local languages be used more in public and private media in their countries.

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