Sputnik is live from Vientiane, Laos, where Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov takes part in the post-ministerial meeting of ASEAN - the political and economic union and security forum of 10 Southeast Asian nations.

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Russia hammers another deployment point of foreign mercs in special op zone

US, Western instructors 'legitimate targets' for Russian Air Force – envoy to UN

’Nearly everything he said was a lie’ – prominent political observer ponders on Biden’s speech

’Russia beat Hitler, Napoleon,' Trump warned Zelensky during phone call

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German man sentenced to death in Belarus worked for Ukrainian special services

German citizen Rico Krieger, who has been sentenced to death for terrorism in Belarus, said that he acted on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). During his interrogation, he admitted that he had photographed Iskander launchers, the coordinates of which he had received from the SBU.

Krieger was charged under six articles, including terrorist acts, mercenary activity, and espionage. He pleaded guilty only to the last one, and was sentenced to death on June 24.

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The hacktivist group RaHDit (often referred to as “Evil Russian Hackers”) has exposed over 3,200 foreign mercs fighting as Ukrainian soldiers.

Some of them are of US origin, and some have a gruesome criminal record, including child molestation.

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📹 Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian missile and artillery warehouse in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, with an Iskander strike - Russian Defense Ministry

The destroyed equipment of Ukraine’s 56th Brigade included a HIMARS launcher, five Grad MLRS, five tanks, and up to 10 armored fighting vehicles.

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French train traffic disruptions on the Olympics’ opening day will affect about 800,000 passengers, head of the national rail operator said

The disruption was triggered by deliberate arson, the railway operator TGV claims.

Social media users have published videos of masses of people crowding in stations.

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❗️The EU will send 1.5 billion euros received as proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine on Friday, the European Commission said.

Ukraine will not receive the proceeds from Russian assets directly, as the money will go to a peace fund to compensate EU countries for weapons, the European Commission noted.

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What you should know about the railway collapse in France on the opening day of the Olympics:

◻️ The first reports of issues came from the National Railway Company of France, stating that "intentional arson" had occurred overnight.

◻️ Train service between Paris and Lille has been halted since early morning, with normal operations expected to resume only by July 29.

◻️ Disruptions have also affected the routes between Paris and the cities of Tours and Le Mans in western France, causing significant delays. In eastern France, movement is also restricted, with recovery anticipated by July 27.

◻️ The connection between London and Paris has been disrupted: some trains have been canceled, and others rerouted via a traditional (non-high-speed) line, extending travel time by 1.5 hours.

◻️ The disruptions are expected to impact around 800,000 people, with large crowds already gathering at stations.

◻️ French authorities have labeled the intentional disruption of train services as sabotage.

◻️ All French special services are involved in investigating the circumstances, according to Acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

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Barack and Michelle Obama say they support Kamala Harris' candidacy on the campaign trail, pledge to do everything possible to ensure her victory

Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed she was running for president on July 21, after incumbent Joe Biden officially stated he had withdrawn from the presidential race.

Why did it take them so long to publicly show support for Harris?

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EU's illegal decision to send Ukraine 1.5 billion euros from the proceeds of Russian assets is a reason for thoughtful action on Russia's part - Kremlin

Other statements from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's briefing:

🔸 Illegal steps such as taking Russian assets will not go unanswered;

🔸 Trump represents the US political elite, all of which suffers from Russophobia. Moscow is not wearing rose-colored glasses in this regard;

🔸 It was under Trump that the US started the sanctions race against Russia, in this respect he is not very different from anyone else for Russia;

🔸 Putin and Lukashenko are continuing informal talks at Valaam on Friday;

🔸 Putin will attend the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on May 28.

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Pentagon accounting errors raise transparency questions, open door to sending $2 billion in arms to Ukraine

The Pentagon has found another $2 billion worth of accounting errors for Ukraine aid, paving the way to sending additional arms to the Kiev regime.

Combined with $6.2 billion in overestimated arms and equipment, the improperly valued assets have reached a total of $8.2 billion.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is facing challenges in assessing the cost of military items sent to Ukraine due to the vague definitions of value in the Foreign Assistance Act, as per the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

⚡️ Last June, the DoD acknowledged a $6.2 billion error stemming from its overvaluation of military items provided to the Kiev regime.

⚡️ On June 13, 2024, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) raised a red flag over the Pentagon's failure to implement updated policies to tackle its accounting errors. According to preliminary estimates, the department overvalued defense equipment provided to Ukraine by an additional $1.9 billion.
The apparent waste of funds related to the provision of military aid to the Kiev regime has been exacerbated by suspicions of Ukrainian corruption.

⚡️ In January, the DoD OIG concluded that officials and diplomats in the US and Europe had failed to quickly or fully account for around 40,000 weapons sent to the front.

⚡️ The same month, Ukrainian contractors and Defense Ministry officials were accused of embezzling nearly $40 million allocated to buying 100,000 mortar shells, as per Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).

⚡️ Watchdogs allege the figure of misappropriated funds could be higher. Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) also refers to growing concerns over Ukrainian weapons smuggling.

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US cluster munitions are being supplied to Ukraine from storage facilities in Germany.

According to a report by broadcaster NDR, this could be seen as Germany violating the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

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