West's Ukraine gamble could spiral into clash between nuclear powers, Russian envoy warns

The West's recent withdrawal from arms control agreements and its desire to inflict a "strategic defeat" against Russia could potentially lead to a dangerous clash between nuclear powers, warned Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation at the talks in Vienna on military security and arms control, in an article for Sputnik.

◾️Today, it’s obvious "with what ease the 'transatlantic allies' are plunging themselves deeper into the whirlpool of confrontation with Russia on the side of the Kiev regime," he wrote.

"Putting aside all the documents adopted at a forum on arms control and confidence-building, they have wagered on inflicting a 'strategic defeat' on our country. All this carries the risks of a direct military clash between nuclear powers with unpredictable consequences," Gavrilov cautioned.

◾️Western nations persist in squandering mind-boggling sums on the Ukraine conflict, resurrecting NATO's veneer as a so-called shield against the perceived ‘threat’ from the East, the diplomat remarked.

"The fact that the Ukraine crisis is only part of a systemic problem affecting the FSC [Forum for Security Co-operation of the OSCE, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] has become evident long ago. The events in this country have been immediately used to justify the legitimacy of NATO's return to its original function of defending against the threat from the East and, similarly, to position the alliance as the only reliable security instrument in the 'new modalities'," he said.

◾️ The West is now using the Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as an information warfare tool against Russia, Gavrilov noted.

"It is not surprising that against such a background, the FSC has ceased to be of interest to Western participating states as a platform for professional discussion of security issues in Europe and is increasingly in demand as a tool to support information warfare against Russia," the diplomat concluded.

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Zelensky admits Abrams tanks toothless on the battlefield, seeks scores of F-16s

"I am not sure that this number of tanks could change the situation on the battlefield," Zelensky said during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Center in Washington.

He also said that Western deliveries of American-produced F-16s to Ukraine would not be enough, since Kiev needs more than a hundred more of these jets.

"So, till [the] moment, when we will have 128 jets, we will not compare with them in the sky. Anyway, it will be difficult," Zelensky said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly announced the destruction of Abrams tanks in the special operation zone.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously stated that Moscow would interpret any potential transfer of nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as a deliberate signal from NATO in the realm of nuclear issues.

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🎥 Ukrainian troops used toxic substances in Toretsk, Donetsk People's Republic, a refugee from this town told Sputnik.

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❗️Russia's FSB foils Ukrainian terrorist plot targeting the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in Murmansk.

"The Russian Federal Security Service has thwarted attempts by the Ukrainian special services to carry out terrorist attacks on the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in the city of Murmansk," the statement read.

In March 2024, a Russian citizen undergoing military service on the aircraft carrier was contacted via Internet messengers by an employee of one of Ukraine’s intel agencies, who used psychological influence techniques to pressure the targeted individual into committing a potential act of terrorism on the warship.

In March, the Russian military officer in question serving aboard the aircraft carrier was contacted by Ukrainian spies, who proposed carrying out an act of terrorism on the ship in exchange for a large sum of money. The officer reported this to Russia’s security agencies, who then conducted an undercover operation against the said Ukrainian adversaries.

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❗️The FSB has apprehended a Russian citizen, who was recruited by the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate. This individual was in the process of planning a terrorist attack against three high-ranking military personnel from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Russia's FSB successfully thwarted terrorist plots aimed at three senior military officials from the Ministry of Defense. Subsequently, a Russian citizen born in 1994, who orchestrated the transportation of three explosive devices via couriers, was apprehended.

The explosive devices were concealed under gift wrappings. Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to having been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence.

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◾️Adviser to the head of the Donetsk People's Republic receives chemical burns after Ukrainian army drops ammunition with toxic substance.

◾️US-made Abrams tanks are toothless on the battlefield, Zelensky admits.

◾️The "Al-Qassam Brigades" releases footage showing the elimination of an Israeli soldier in the Tal Al-Hawa area in Gaza City.

◾️The IDF shares a video of its strike on a Hezbollah military structure.

◾️What are the reasons behind the BRICS’ economic surge?

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Declassified Clinton White House doc reveals US promised Yeltsin to consult with Russia on NATO expansion

Former US Vice President Al Gore made a promise to ex-Russian President Boris Yeltsin in late 1994, pledging that NATO expansion would only happen after consulting with Moscow, according to declassified material detailing a conversation between Gore and Yeltsin on December 16, 1994.

The report was written by Strobe Talbott, who was serving as the Clinton Administration’s Deputy Secretary of State. The document has since been published in the US National Security Archive.

"What Clinton told you in September was that eventually NATO will expand. But the process will be gradual and open and we will consult carefully with you. The process will be conducted in parallel with a deeping of US-Russia partnership and your partnership with NATO," Gore said during the conversation with the former Russian president, as quoted by Talbott.

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IDF reportedly used controversial ‘Hannibal Directive’ to kill Israelis during Hamas attack

The Israeli military reportedly resorted to a controversial Hannibal Directive, used by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent the capture of Israeli citizens and soldiers by enemy forces, while repelling the October 7 Hamas attack, according to the Israeli publication, Haaretz.

🔸The IDF made the decision to employ the Hannibal Directive at multiple sites in the early hours of the Hamas incursion in October 2023, as the documents obtained by Haaretz show.

🔸At 6:43 am (GMT+2) on October 7, Gaza Division Commander Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld set in motion a series of measures, including the shelling of Israeli citizens.

🔸The Israeli media outlet claims that a directive, under the code: "Hannibal at Erez, dispatch a Zik" at 7:18 am meant that an unmanned assault drone was launched to prevent the capture of Israelis.

🔸Another order "Not a single vehicle can return to Gaza" issued at 11:22 am reportedly envisaged the elimination of all vehicles, including those carrying kidnapped Israelis.

🔸The newly obtained information seems to confirm earlier reports by alternative media sources, which had been dismissed and discredited by Tel Aviv.

🔸The Hannibal Directive was established in 1986 after a string of abductions of IDF soldiers in Lebanon and subsequent exchanges of prisoners. The IDF directive, allowing the killing of Israeli soldiers and shelling vehicles carrying abductees, remained a military secret until 2003.

🔸In August 2014, the US press shed light on the killing of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier who was reported captured by Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, and then declared dead. According to a report by the New Yorker magazine, the serviceman was killed under the Hannibal Directive.

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🎥 Pantsir-S1 air defense crew obliterates enemy drone in Battlegroup Vostok’s zone of responsibility 

The airspace above Russian troops' positions is monitored round-the-clock by anti-aircraft missile and gun systems. The Pantsir-S1 system is equipped with 12 anti-aircraft missiles and two double-barreled 30mm cannons, each loaded with 1,400 rounds of ammo, to effectively destroy targets.

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🇷🇺 Russian ZALA drone aids precise strike on enemy

A ZALA reconnaissance drone crew identified an enemy concentration of manpower and hardware at a camouflaged stronghold in a forested area. They quickly transmitted the coordinates to artillery and Lancet barrage munition operators, who then launched a precise strike, destroying U.S.-made M777 howitzers, tanks, and French-made Caesar self-propelled guns.

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Sorry not sorry: EU "regrets" Ukraine death toll, but to continue supplying weapons to Kiev

"We certainly regret that people are dying, but Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying because they are defending their country," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday during a speech at the fifth NATO Anniversary Summit in Washington.

The EU will continue to support Ukraine, Borrell added.

"I am happy to have heard [US] President Biden a moment ago to say that Russia cannot prevail, for that we have to increase our [military] industrial capacity, putting more money on the table, more technological development," he said.

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❗️Russian forces have destroyed three Improved HAWK anti-aircraft missile launchers in Ukraine, as well as targeted storage facilities for Ukrainian unmanned boats, according to the Ministry of Defence.

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❗️The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) lost up to 600 militants in the area of responsibility of the Russian Battlegroup Yug.

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

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Dnepr destroyed a field artillery ammunition depot.

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Sever inflicted losses on six enemy brigades, with the UAF losing up to 275 militants.

◻️ The UAF lost up to 495 militants and a tank in the area of responsibility of the Russian Battlegroup Zapad.

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Zapad inflicted damage on formations of five enemy brigades, including the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia).

◻️ Russian air defense systems shot down four ATACMS missiles, four Hammer guided bombs, three HIMARS shells, and 55 Ukrainian drones.

◻️ The UAF lost up to 510 militants in the area of responsibility of the Russian Battlegroup Tsentr.

◻️ Units of the Russian Battlegroup Vostok took more advantageous positions, with the UAF losing up to 135 militants.

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French snap election marked the failure of EU warmongering

The snap election resulted in no majority and no obvious coalition in the French National Assembly, raising the question of whether the left-wing and centrist parties would be able to form a functioning government.

"This is the key question," Fabien Chalandon, French political commentator and writer, told Sputnik. "No party has any majority, and any government can be deposed at any time by a combination of the two other groups. The parliament is therefore in a gridlock and ungovernable."

The winner of the snap election, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) is a hastily-built coalition of small parties with simmering differences on many issues including Ukraine, whose sole purpose was to defeat the National Rally (RN). The likelihood of the NFP coalition passing the test of time is doubtful, the pundit said.

The composition of the new parliament is likely to disrupt French President Emmanuel Macron's bellicose agenda, he added. Over the past months Macron has made a series of controversial statements, ranging from putting NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine to promoting the idea of a "major European loan" to finance the bloc's rearmament effort.

"On Ukraine, the NFP is clearly against the EU and EU support of Ukraine. But so is the Unbowed France Party,” Chalandon said. “Any proposal for additional funding to Ukraine may not be approved if these two coalesce to block it, even if they do not coordinate."

Europeans have increasingly started to realize the collective West's hypocrisy towards Ukraine, according to the pundit. The West's 20-year-long provocations against Russia and the US and UK-led sabotage of the Russo-Ukrainian draft peace deal in April 2022 is also becoming obvious to the Western public, he noted.

"Ukraine’s war and open-ended funding will not continue unabated and may progressively appear for what it is: the main cause of Europe’s recent economic downfall," Chalandon concluded.

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Your wife? Bumbling Joe Biden stumbles on statement to Stoltenberg at NATO summit

“I realized, I was <...> your wife,” he says before laughing nervously, and going on to apologize.

The video has gone viral on social media. Neither the White House nor NATO have commented on the flub so far.

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The Russian military officer, whom Ukrainian intelligence attempted to recruit in order to commit a terrorist attack on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, tells his story.

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