Moscow’s symbolic ‘Parade of the Vanquished’ German generals & soldiers in WWII marks 80th anniversary

Eighty years ago, almost a year before the end of the Great Patriotic War, a march of German prisoners of war known as the “Parade of the Vanquished” was organized in Moscow at the behest of Joseph Stalin.

On July 17, 1944, 57,600 German soldiers and officers captured during Operation Bagration marched along the Garden Ring and other streets of the Russian capital. Among the prisoners were 19 generals, leading the column in uniforms adorned with medals. Watering vehicles followed the procession, symbolically cleansing the ‘dirt’ from the roads.

The event, showcasing the Soviet Union's strength in WWII, left a lasting impact on the citizens of Moscow and international observers.

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🎥 In the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, a congress of parties and movements advocating for the independence of several French territories, including Corsica, Melanesia, and French Polynesia, has begun.

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🇺🇳 Key statements by Russian FM Sergey Lavrov at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East:

◻️ By supplying weapons to Israel, the US has become a participant in the conflict in Gaza, just as it has in Ukraine.

◻️ If the US stops supporting Israel, the bloodshed in Gaza will end, but they either do not want to or cannot do this.

◻️ Moscow's proposal for a meeting of all external players who have influence on the groups in Gaza remains in force; if these players speak with one voice, they can help overcome divisions within the Palestinian ranks.

◻️ Israel is not only failing to reduce but is also increasing the construction of illegal settlements in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

◻️ Israel's neighbors, including Lebanon, are under threat of being drawn into a large-scale confrontation with it.

◻️ Russia calls for the principle "nothing about Palestine without Palestine" to guide negotiations on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

◻️ Following the elections in Iran and the statements of the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, there is hope for rapprochement among all the coastal countries of the Persian Gulf.

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US Intel’s attempt to 'scapegoat' Iran with Trump assassination plot claim smells like Iraqi WMDs 2.0

💬 “We know that US intelligence always lies,” Tehran-based Iranian-American academic and international affairs observer Dr. Mohammad Marandi told Sputnik, commenting on US media reports this week citing anonymous intelligence officials that Iran is plotting to assassinate Donald Trump.

“They are the ones who claimed that Saddam Hussein was making chemical weapons and developing nuclear weapons and had links with Al-Qaeda*. They also made false allegations against the government of Libya before destroying the country. The United States has a history of such false claims made by their so-called intelligence community. So we shouldn't really take them seriously,” Marandi emphasized.

“The assassination on Trump was obviously either an inside job carried out by the Biden regime, or elements within the Biden regime, or the US Secret Service was extremely incompetent because the shooter was very close and it should not have happened. If this was Russia or Iran or any other country with a competent government, there would have been no chance for such a thing to happen,” Marandi added, suggesting that the attempt to “scapegoat” Iran is laughable and that the claims “[don’t] add up.”

The US intelligence community is “afraid that people will blame the Biden regime. This could further polarize the United States. The divisions in the country are extraordinarily high, and so they're attempting to distract or deflect attention away from themselves,” Marandi said.

The observer also doesn’t rule out that the Iran-Trump assassination plot claims may be meant to tie Trump’s hands into a poor relationship with Tehran out of the gate if he wins the upcoming presidential election.

* Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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🎥 Ukraine’s Draconian mobilization clampdown gets even worse

The new connoscription regulations in Ukraine have become increasingly alarming. As of July 17, all males between the ages of 18 and 60 are required to carry a military record and identification whenever they leave their homes.

Failing to update one's military record may result in a fine, and/or being connoscripted on the spot.

Clearly, the Kiev regime is intensifying already strict mobilization regulations due to significant military casualties in the special military operation zone.

Since the implementation of martial law in February 2022, Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country. As a result, they now need to reconsider even simple errands like buying milk.

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Iranian plot allegation is move to thwart Trump's potential de-escalation

💬 "The United States under Biden failed to change its policy towards Iran. And, even though we had negotiations to revive the nuclear deal... the United States under Biden failed to take the final step," Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a political analyst and professor at Tehran University, told Sputnik.

He argued that recent allegations of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump might be seen as an attempt to influence Trump's potential dealings with Iran’s new president.

"Trump needs to de-escalate. The United States is overstretched with China, with Ukraine, with Iran – the empire is collapsing," he noted.

Marandi said Trump's adversaries might want to prevent him from de-escalating tensions in key regions like Ukraine and West and East Asia.

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The West is determined to push through Zelensky's plan at any cost, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said. He also noted that, unlike China, the West does not address the root causes of the crisis in its initiatives regarding Ukraine.

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How did they know about shooting bid but failed to stop it?

The US Secret Service learned back in June that Iran was allegedly preparing an assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. After that, the ex-president’s security was reinforced with drones, robot dogs and anti-assault and counter-sniper teams, CBS reports.

But how they still failed to stop Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump the news network did not say. Iran has rejected all accusations against it as “baseless and biased.”

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Russia is ready for talks on Ukraine and European security issues, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said.

However, according to him, Moscow will insist on including safeguards against double interpretation in any future European security agreement.

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❗️Key statements from Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's press conference after the UNSC meeting:

◻️ Russia does not interfere in the affairs of other states, including the USA, Lavrov said.

◻️ Russia and the US have engaged in undisclosed "second-track" contacts involving political analysts, discussing issues related to the conflict in Ukraine.

◻️ Russia will be ready to work with any US president chosen by the American people, he stated.

◻️ It was under Trump that the sanctions war against Russia began, but dialogue between Moscow and Washington continued, Lavrov noted.

◻️ Lavrov pointed out the double standards of UN representatives regarding the situations in Gaza and Ukraine.

◻️ The resolution of the conflict in Ukraine must take into account the realities on the ground, he emphasized.

◻️ The West must stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and then the conflict will end, Lavrov asserted.

◻️ Russia will seek the truth regarding the Nord Stream sabotage, Lavrov said.

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Migrants are still being relocated en masse from Paris to other parts of France ahead of the Olympic Games, according to posts online sharing the footage.

Earlier, the media reported that thousands of homeless people, including many from Africa, were put on buses and taken out of the capital. They were promised housing elsewhere but were ultimately abandoned on unfamiliar streets and threatened with deportation.

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Will European powers return to Afghanistan and recognize the Taliban?

Several European countries could reopen their embassies in Afghanistan — thereby establishing diplomatic relations with the Taliban*, Bloomberg reported quoting un-named sources.

"After the disastrous retreat of the US, a certain European interest in Afghanistan has been reborn, an interest currently mainly oriented towards the reconstruction of the country,” Tiberio Graziani, chairman of Rome-based think tank Vision and Global Trends, told Sputnik. “Rome and Madrid aspire to play a greater role in international dynamics."

Italian intelligence services reportedly made a "reconnaissance mission" in Kabul in the past few weeks, according to Bloomberg.

"In particular, Rome shows a particular interest in Central Asia," Graziani said. "Afghanistan borders three countries in the Central Asian region: Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Italy therefore has every interest in facilitating relations between these countries and Afghanistan, both for security and economic reasons.”

Graziani believes that rapprochement between Kabul and European capitals is possible, arguing that Europe wants to draw Afghanistan away from Russia and China's sphere of interest.

In May, Moscow signaled it may de-list the Taliban as a terrorist organization, paving the way for the recognition of the new Afghan government and deepening economic, political and security ties with the country. The movement maintains "real power" in Afghanistan and recognizing that fact reflects the reality on the ground, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at the time.

Earlier this year China became the first country to accredit a Taliban-nominated official as Afghanistan's ambassador to Beijing. International observers noted that the move was still short of formal diplomatic recognition, but showed a trend of growing engagement between Kabul and Beijing.

*Under UN sanctions for terrorist activities

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The media released new footage of the Secret Service rushing Trump to a car after the assassination attempt.

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With friends like these: What’s known about US nonprofit Ford Foundation accused of funding Kenya unrest

Kenya has been engulfed in mass protests over proposed tax reforms. On Monday, President William Ruto, a key US ally in Africa, accused the Ford Foundation, a leading American philanthropic organization, of funding forces behind the unrest. Here’s what we know about it.

🔸 Created in 1936 by Henry Ford in response to FDR’s 70% taxation scheme on large inheritances, the NYC-based foundation initially limited its activities to the US, providing funding for the Henry Ford Hospital, the Henry Ford Museum, and the National Educational Television (NET) broadcaster.

🔸 In 1952, the foundation opened its first foreign office in New Delhi, India, providing grants for NGOs and educational institutions, social research and 'leadership training'.

🔸 During the Cold War, the foundation served as what US sociology professor James Petras has described as a “CIA front,” providing grants to the US intelligence cutout Congress for Cultural Freedom, and sponsoring the NYC-based Russian-language Chekhov Publishing House.

🔸 The Ford Foundation entered Eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet space in the 1980s and 1990s, ostensibly to ‘promote democratic and economic reforms’.

🔸 The foundation has been active in developing countries as well, providing seed money for Muhammad Yunus’s microcredit scheme in Bangladesh, and supporting LGBTQ+ rights in Uganda, getting a reprimand from President Yoweri Museveni in 2019 for “funding activities that are against our culture and values.”

🔸In Nigeria, the foundation was attacked in 2021 for its alleged role funding separatists and “attempting to destabilize the country by fueling division,” as then-Minister of Information Lai Mohammed put it.

🔸 In South Africa in 2017, then-President Jacob Zuma accused the foundation of pursuing a “political agenda” and of providing “financial support to opposition groups and NGOs that are working tirelessly to destabilize our government.”

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 How Russian-Chinese military cooperation can help Beijing battle collective West

A US Congressional committee’s recently expressed concerns about possible Russian-Chinese information sharing on how to defeat US arms based on Russia's experiences in Ukraine and the West’s efforts to pressure Beijing using the same weapons types in its backyard is understandable, Bureau of Military-Political Analysis chief Alexander Mikhailov has told Sputnik.

“It’s no secret that America and its allies plan to exert military pressure on China and prevent it from expanding its influence throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, China now has a great opportunity to study the combat capabilities, tactical and technical characteristics of US-made equipment [used by the Kiev regime], and those NATO standards that the alliance is constantly talking about being guided by in its military support for Ukraine,” Mikhailov explained.

In Ukraine, China can observe almost every facet of NATO’s non-nuclear or aviation-related tactics and equipment, and Moscow doesn’t need to explicitly hand information over, Mikhailov says.

Presidents Putin and Xi agreed to strengthen military cooperation in May. Russia and China have already enjoyed decades of defense cooperation, including:

◻️ technology transfers by Russia (particularly in the 1990s and 2000s after the Soviet collapse),

◻️ cooperation at multilateral venues, including through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,

◻️ joint training and patrols by the Russian and Chinese navies,

◻️ and that’s not to mention the energy, industrial, and logistics partnerships, Mikhailov says.

◻️ The powers now have the opportunity to expand cooperation in space, through things like a joint lunar program, joint orbital satellite groupings, and cooperation in the nuclear sphere, according to the observer.

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