The New York Post featured Russian athlete Yuliya Efimova in a post about the sexiest athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The only issue?

Yuliya isn't even competing in the 2024 Olympics.

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Russian Su-27 was scrambled for the second time this week after an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and two British Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters were detected over the Black Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, noting that there was no violation of the state border.

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💥Russian Uragan MLRS crews launch leaflet projectiles on Ukrainian positions in Avdeyevka direction

Leaflet projectiles are rocket-propelled rounds in which propaganda leaflets are installed instead of strike elements and explosives.

Each such shell contains more than 4,000 A5 leaflets calling for voluntary accumulation of weapons by Ukrainian servicemen and surrendering to captivity, which will preserve life and guarantee a return to their relatives. Such a munition has a distinctive red color in comparison with conventional projectiles, and the fuse has a trigger timer, which is adjusted depending on the range of the target.

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Former US president Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

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State Department's decorated 'color revolution' guru appointed to oversee Western Balkans

Alexander "Sasha" Kasanof has been appointed as a deputy assistant secretary for the Western Balkans in the US Department of State.

The Western Balkans are currently seeing an uptick in tensions between Serbia and self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo and sporadic anti-government protests in Belgrade, which has refused to jump on the West's anti-Russia bandwagon. While Kasanof appears to have zero expertise in the Balkan region, he is known as a "color revolution" specialist.

What's known about Sasha Kasanof?

◻️ Nuland's aide: Kasanof served as executive assistant to former Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland (2021-2024), an infamous “Russia hawk."

◻️ Focus on Eurasian conflicts: he held various positions in the US government with special attention on Eastern European affairs, the Caucasus, and regional conflicts.

◻️ Ties to Hunter Biden and Burisma? In October 2015, Kasanof was mentioned by US lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies in a letter to Ukraine's Burisma Holdings as a contact person in the US government. It was then-Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter who connected Blue Star with Burisma, where he served as a board member. Hunter Biden is under congressional investigations over apparent influence peddling.

◻️ Meetup with Belarusian opposition: in 2014 Kasanof was appointed as director of the US Department of State’s Office for Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus Affairs. In this capacity, in November 2014, he met with 15 representatives of the Belarusian opposition, including Ukrainian Maidan coup supporters Anatoly Lebedko and Vladimir Nekliaev, both of whom faced multiple court proceedings in Belarus.

◻️ State award for activities during the Maidan coup: Kasanof played an apparent key role in the Ukrainian 2013-2014 unrest and subsequent regime change, and received a State Department award for his work at the US Embassy in Kiev during the Maidan coup of February 2014.

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Nothing unusual, just a queue at the entrance to the metro in Paris on the day of the Olympic Games opening ceremony

Saint-Denis Pleyel station.

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Only ‘brute force’ could force military-age Ukrainians to go back home to be mobilized - analyst

💬 “The only ‘encouragement’ that could induce military age Ukrainians to return to their country to fight would be brute force,” veteran international relations and Russian affairs expert Dr. Gilbert Doctorow told Sputnik, commenting on Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s suggestion this week that EU countries should introduce “such conditions” on Ukrainians living Europe that would “encourage them” to return home and join the army to fight in the NATO proxy war against Russia.

“These potential connoscripts are not vacationing in our resorts. They are here precisely because they fled connoscription, which means nearly certain death on the battlefield, given the way that day after day the Russians are killing or gravely injuring more than 2,000 Ukrainian troops, including…some of the country’s best trained and equipped military units,” Doctorow stressed.

Sikorski’s proposal is illustrative of a modern Polish political class “as delusional as their forefathers” in Poland’s conflicts with and insurrections against Russia, according to the observer. Fortunately, Doctorow suggested, other European nations will hopefully “have some residual commitment to due process, not to mention a certain pacifist leaning,” which should prevent them from following “the despicable recommendations of Mr. Sikorski.”

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