Hezbollah has entered a new phase of military action against Israel on all fronts, the movement's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said.
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❗️Footage from the Turkish NTV channel from Ankara airport, where, according to its information, an exchange of prisoners is to take place. 📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt
❗️Turkish intelligence said that the operation to exchange 26 prisoners from seven countries took place in Ankara with its mediation.
Ten of those released as part of the exchange are heading to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States, Turkish channel NTV reported.
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Ten of those released as part of the exchange are heading to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States, Turkish channel NTV reported.
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Israeli air force strikes outskirts of Shamaa settlement in southern Lebanon, casualties reported, a local source told Sputnik.
Footage from social media.
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Footage from social media.
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Hezbollah has entered a new phase of military action against Israel on all fronts, the movement's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said. 📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Hezbollah to resume 'support front' for Gaza and attacks on Israeli military positions starting Friday morning, the movement's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said.
There will definitely be a response to Israel's crimes and this issue is not up for discussion, the Hezbollah leader added.
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There will definitely be a response to Israel's crimes and this issue is not up for discussion, the Hezbollah leader added.
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Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh killed. What is known so far? ▪️Palestinian movement Hamas said that its Politburo head Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack at his residence in Tehran on Wednesday. ▪️Ismail Haniyeh was killed as a result…
🇮🇷🇷🇺 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov phoned the acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani to discuss the assassination of Hamas leader, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
The parties pointed out the unacceptability of political assassinations and the extremely dangerous consequences of such actions.
Lavrov also called on all parties influencing the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East as a whole to avoid actions that could lead to further destabilization.
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The parties pointed out the unacceptability of political assassinations and the extremely dangerous consequences of such actions.
Lavrov also called on all parties influencing the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East as a whole to avoid actions that could lead to further destabilization.
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Sputnik International
❗️Footage from the Turkish NTV channel from Ankara airport, where, according to its information, an exchange of prisoners is to take place. 📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Decades of diplomacy: notable prisoner exchanges between the US and Soviet Union/Russia
Amid reports about a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West, Sputnik provides a historical overview of major prisoner exchanges between Russia (and the former Soviet Union) and the United States, highlighting key swaps from the Cold War era to the present day.
🔸December 2022
Russian citizen Viktor Bout, arrested for allegedly trading arms, was exchanged for American Brittney Griner, who was serving a sentence in Russia for attempting to illegally bring in hashish oil. The exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport (UAE).
🔸April 2022
Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, detained in 2010 in Liberia and sentenced in the US for drug trafficking, was exchanged for US citizen Trevor Reed, who was convicted in Russia for assaulting police officers.
🔸July 2010
The largest prisoner exchange between the US and Russia since the Cold War (until now) took place at Vienna International Airport, Austria. Washington handed over ten Russian agents to Moscow: Anna Chapman, Vladimir and Lydia Guryev, Mikhail Vasenkov, Natalia Pereverzeva, Mikhail Kutsik, Andrey Bezrukov, Elena Vavilova, Mikhail Semenko, and Vicky Pelaez. In exchange, Russia pardoned and released four Russian citizens, including former GRU officer Sergey Skripal, who was sentenced to 13 years for passing information to British intelligence, and scientist Igor Sutyagin, who was convicted of treason.
🔸October 1986
Soviet intelligence officer Gennady Zakharov, accused of espionage, was exchanged for American journalist and US News and World Report bureau chief Nicholas Daniloff, also accused of espionage.
🔸April 1979
At New York's Kennedy Airport, Soviet intelligence officers Valdik A. Enger and Rudolf P. Chernyaev, who operated under the cover of UN secretariat employees, were exchanged for dissidents Alexander Ginzburg, Eduard Kuznetsov, Mark Dymshits, Valentin Moroz, and Georgy Vins. Enger and Chernyaev were detained in May 1978 and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
🔸October 1963
By mutual agreement between the US and Soviet governments, Soviet agents Ivan Egorov, a former UN secretariat employee, and his wife Alexandra were exchanged for American priest Walter Ciszek, arrested in 1941 on espionage charges. Along with Ciszek, chemist Marvin Makinen, who was arrested in 1961 and sentenced to eight years for espionage, was handed over to the American side.
🔸February 1962
On the border between West and East Berlin, on the Glienicke Bridge, Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel (real name – William August Fisher) was exchanged for American pilot Francis Gary Powers. Abel had been in the US since 1948 as an undercover spy. He was arrested in June 1957 and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Powers conducted reconnaissance flights over the USSR, and on May 1, 1960, his U-2 aircraft was shot down near Sverdlovsk. A Soviet court sentenced the pilot to 10 years in prison for espionage.
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Amid reports about a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West, Sputnik provides a historical overview of major prisoner exchanges between Russia (and the former Soviet Union) and the United States, highlighting key swaps from the Cold War era to the present day.
🔸December 2022
Russian citizen Viktor Bout, arrested for allegedly trading arms, was exchanged for American Brittney Griner, who was serving a sentence in Russia for attempting to illegally bring in hashish oil. The exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport (UAE).
🔸April 2022
Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, detained in 2010 in Liberia and sentenced in the US for drug trafficking, was exchanged for US citizen Trevor Reed, who was convicted in Russia for assaulting police officers.
🔸July 2010
The largest prisoner exchange between the US and Russia since the Cold War (until now) took place at Vienna International Airport, Austria. Washington handed over ten Russian agents to Moscow: Anna Chapman, Vladimir and Lydia Guryev, Mikhail Vasenkov, Natalia Pereverzeva, Mikhail Kutsik, Andrey Bezrukov, Elena Vavilova, Mikhail Semenko, and Vicky Pelaez. In exchange, Russia pardoned and released four Russian citizens, including former GRU officer Sergey Skripal, who was sentenced to 13 years for passing information to British intelligence, and scientist Igor Sutyagin, who was convicted of treason.
🔸October 1986
Soviet intelligence officer Gennady Zakharov, accused of espionage, was exchanged for American journalist and US News and World Report bureau chief Nicholas Daniloff, also accused of espionage.
🔸April 1979
At New York's Kennedy Airport, Soviet intelligence officers Valdik A. Enger and Rudolf P. Chernyaev, who operated under the cover of UN secretariat employees, were exchanged for dissidents Alexander Ginzburg, Eduard Kuznetsov, Mark Dymshits, Valentin Moroz, and Georgy Vins. Enger and Chernyaev were detained in May 1978 and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
🔸October 1963
By mutual agreement between the US and Soviet governments, Soviet agents Ivan Egorov, a former UN secretariat employee, and his wife Alexandra were exchanged for American priest Walter Ciszek, arrested in 1941 on espionage charges. Along with Ciszek, chemist Marvin Makinen, who was arrested in 1961 and sentenced to eight years for espionage, was handed over to the American side.
🔸February 1962
On the border between West and East Berlin, on the Glienicke Bridge, Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel (real name – William August Fisher) was exchanged for American pilot Francis Gary Powers. Abel had been in the US since 1948 as an undercover spy. He was arrested in June 1957 and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Powers conducted reconnaissance flights over the USSR, and on May 1, 1960, his U-2 aircraft was shot down near Sverdlovsk. A Soviet court sentenced the pilot to 10 years in prison for espionage.
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With military expenses becoming unsustainable, how soon will Ukraine default?
Ukraine’s military expenses currently amount to nearly $130 million a day and nearly $4 billion per month, the country’s Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko recently confessed, as quoted by Ukrainian media. This situation has already led to a “hole” in the country’s budget, with $12.2 billion of additional deficit, the minister added.
In October 2023, Volodymyr Zelensky signed Ukraine’s budget for 2024 with a deficit of $43 billion. Ukraine’s foreign debt has reached $102 billion and the state’s obligations before its own citizens currently amount to $40.4 billion. (According to the IMF and Ukraine’s Finance Ministry's budget report)
Statistics show that the violent coups of 2005 and 2014, as well as military conflicts, were the main “engines” driving up Ukraine debt. But the day of reckoning is getting close. Recently, Fitch international ratings agency degraded Ukraine from CC (default is likely) to C level (default is inevitable).
August 1 marks the end of a financial moratorium that Ukraine’s private creditors agreed to in 2022. On this day, Ukraine was supposed to restart servicing its $23 million debt to a committee of private investors.
There are several indicators showing that Ukraine’s efforts to avoid default are desperate, but futile:
▪️Kiev tried to persuade its private creditors to agree to a “haircut” of 60% of the $23 billion debt, but, according to Reuters, the creditors dug their heels in at 22%, Bne IntelliNews reported.
▪️The government’s proposal to impose a “war levy” on any sales in the country (for cars it would reach 15%) was dismissed by business as “unrealistic.” Experts expect Ukrainians to make transactions “under the table.”
▪️Using his control over the Rada parliament, Zelensky forced it to provide the government with a two-month-long postponement on the payments for the Eurobond debt of $23 billion. The legality of such a “homemade moratorium” is highly disputable. But the perspective of having to pay $12.2 billion (6.3% of Ukraine’s GDP) only on debt servicing in 2024 (second only to defense, according to Bne IntelliNews) looks even more sinister.
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Ukraine’s military expenses currently amount to nearly $130 million a day and nearly $4 billion per month, the country’s Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko recently confessed, as quoted by Ukrainian media. This situation has already led to a “hole” in the country’s budget, with $12.2 billion of additional deficit, the minister added.
In October 2023, Volodymyr Zelensky signed Ukraine’s budget for 2024 with a deficit of $43 billion. Ukraine’s foreign debt has reached $102 billion and the state’s obligations before its own citizens currently amount to $40.4 billion. (According to the IMF and Ukraine’s Finance Ministry's budget report)
Statistics show that the violent coups of 2005 and 2014, as well as military conflicts, were the main “engines” driving up Ukraine debt. But the day of reckoning is getting close. Recently, Fitch international ratings agency degraded Ukraine from CC (default is likely) to C level (default is inevitable).
August 1 marks the end of a financial moratorium that Ukraine’s private creditors agreed to in 2022. On this day, Ukraine was supposed to restart servicing its $23 million debt to a committee of private investors.
There are several indicators showing that Ukraine’s efforts to avoid default are desperate, but futile:
▪️Kiev tried to persuade its private creditors to agree to a “haircut” of 60% of the $23 billion debt, but, according to Reuters, the creditors dug their heels in at 22%, Bne IntelliNews reported.
▪️The government’s proposal to impose a “war levy” on any sales in the country (for cars it would reach 15%) was dismissed by business as “unrealistic.” Experts expect Ukrainians to make transactions “under the table.”
▪️Using his control over the Rada parliament, Zelensky forced it to provide the government with a two-month-long postponement on the payments for the Eurobond debt of $23 billion. The legality of such a “homemade moratorium” is highly disputable. But the perspective of having to pay $12.2 billion (6.3% of Ukraine’s GDP) only on debt servicing in 2024 (second only to defense, according to Bne IntelliNews) looks even more sinister.
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‘The only answer is to destroy them’: How Russia plans to handle Ukraine's Western-supplied F-16 jets
Ukraine has finally received the first small batch of F-16 fighter jets promised by the West, with some of them allegedly already participating in air defense missions, if recent Western media reports are to be believed.
While F-16 jets are indeed designed to counter relatively slow-moving airborne targets like cruise missiles, the effectiveness of these planes against Russian air raids is questionable, says Russian military analyst Dmitry Drozdenko.
According to Drozdenko, the range of Russian warplanes’ radar systems and the range of their air-to-air missiles exceed those of the radar and missiles used by F-16 so Russian have all the means to deal with the new threat.
Drozdenko also speculates that Kiev may opt to station F-16s in Poland or in Romania to keep them safe from Russian airstrikes. An F-16 would then fly to an airstrip to quickly rearm and refuel, fly a sortie from that Ukrainian airfield and then quickly flee back to an airbase in one of the two aforementioned NATO countries.
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Ukraine has finally received the first small batch of F-16 fighter jets promised by the West, with some of them allegedly already participating in air defense missions, if recent Western media reports are to be believed.
While F-16 jets are indeed designed to counter relatively slow-moving airborne targets like cruise missiles, the effectiveness of these planes against Russian air raids is questionable, says Russian military analyst Dmitry Drozdenko.
“Using fighters to attack Geran-class drones is pointless, if only because the missiles used against them are much more expensive than the drones themselves,” Drozdenko explains. He further notes that any Russian group airstrike would involve up to twenty cruise missiles and the F-16 jets donated to Ukraine are unlikely to be able to shoot all these missiles down.
“I think they will try to engage in air combat and attempt to attack our Su-34 [jets] that currently inflict serious damage upon Ukrainian fortifications thanks to glide bombs with the universal gliding and correction module,” Drozdenko says when asked how else Kiev may try to use these F-16s.
“As for our response, we have Su-30s and Su-35s, aircraft that are more advanced that these F-16s. And I know that our pilots are preparing to meet the enemy in our skies,” he notes.
According to Drozdenko, the range of Russian warplanes’ radar systems and the range of their air-to-air missiles exceed those of the radar and missiles used by F-16 so Russian have all the means to deal with the new threat.
“The only answer to this situation is to destroy this hardware, just like those Leopard and Abrams tanks,” he says.
Drozdenko also speculates that Kiev may opt to station F-16s in Poland or in Romania to keep them safe from Russian airstrikes. An F-16 would then fly to an airstrip to quickly rearm and refuel, fly a sortie from that Ukrainian airfield and then quickly flee back to an airbase in one of the two aforementioned NATO countries.
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Sputnik International
❗️Footage from the Turkish NTV channel from Ankara airport, where, according to its information, an exchange of prisoners is to take place. 📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt
⚡️Eight Russians detained and imprisoned in a number of NATO countries have been returned to their homeland, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Public Relations Center reported.
Their return was made possible thanks to the systematic work of competent government agencies and foreign partners, the department noted.
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Their return was made possible thanks to the systematic work of competent government agencies and foreign partners, the department noted.
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Sputnik International
⚡️Eight Russians detained and imprisoned in a number of NATO countries have been returned to their homeland, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Public Relations Center reported. Their return was made possible thanks to the systematic work of competent…
❗️Russians who returned to their homeland were exchanged for a group of people who acted in the interests of foreign states to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation, the FSB said.
As a result of the exchange, minors were also returned to Russia, the FSB said.
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As a result of the exchange, minors were also returned to Russia, the FSB said.
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Sputnik International
❗️Russians who returned to their homeland were exchanged for a group of people who acted in the interests of foreign states to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation, the FSB said. As a result of the exchange, minors were also returned to…
⚡️Russia is fully satisfied with the prisoner exchange that took place, a reliable source in one of the competent Russian agencies said.
During the exchange, all parties involved fully complied with the agreements, the source added.
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During the exchange, all parties involved fully complied with the agreements, the source added.
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⚡️Russia is fully satisfied with the prisoner exchange that took place, a reliable source in one of the competent Russian agencies said. During the exchange, all parties involved fully complied with the agreements, the source added. 📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt
❗️A group of people sentenced to long prison terms, including life sentences, have been returned to Russia, a source in the competent Russian agency said.
Those who returned to their homeland were accused of cooperating with Russian intelligence agencies, the source noted. In a number of cases, the guilt of those detained and convicted was not proven.
The returning Russians will undergo a full medical examination, the source emphasized.
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Those who returned to their homeland were accused of cooperating with Russian intelligence agencies, the source noted. In a number of cases, the guilt of those detained and convicted was not proven.
The returning Russians will undergo a full medical examination, the source emphasized.
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❗️A group of people sentenced to long prison terms, including life sentences, have been returned to Russia, a source in the competent Russian agency said. Those who returned to their homeland were accused of cooperating with Russian intelligence agencies…
❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees to pardon foreign citizens exchanged out of Russia, including Whelan and Gershkovich, the Kremlin said.
Moscow is grateful to the leadership of all countries that provided assistance in preparing the exchange, Kremlin added.
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Moscow is grateful to the leadership of all countries that provided assistance in preparing the exchange, Kremlin added.
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Sputnik International
❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees to pardon foreign citizens exchanged out of Russia, including Whelan and Gershkovich, the Kremlin said. Moscow is grateful to the leadership of all countries that provided assistance in preparing the exchange…
❗️Artem and Anna Dultsev, Pavel Rubtsov, Vadim Konashchenko, Mikhail Mikushin, and Roman Seleznev, who were imprisoned in NATO countries, have returned to Russia, a source in one of the competent Russian agencies reported.
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❗️Artem and Anna Dultsev, Pavel Rubtsov, Vadim Konashchenko, Mikhail Mikushin, and Roman Seleznev, who were imprisoned in NATO countries, have returned to Russia, a source in one of the competent Russian agencies reported. 📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Who is returning to Russia as part of the prisoner exchange with the US:
▪️Vadim Krasikov, a former Russian intelligence officer arrested in Germany in 2019 and accused by Berlin of terminating Chechen terrorist Zelimkhan Khangoshvili on German soil.
▪️Ludwig Gisch and Maria Mayer, arrested in 2022 in Slovenia and accused of being deep-cover Russian intelligence operatives whose names (if Western media is to be believed) are Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva.
▪️Roman Seleznev, a Russian IT specialist who was accused by US authorities of being a hacker and of defrauding banks of millions of dollars.
▪️ Vladislav Klyushin, a Russian businessman who was arrested in Switzerland in 2021 and extradited to the US. The American authorities accused Klyushin of participating in “an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $93 million through securities trades based on confidential corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks,” as the US DoJ put it.
▪️Vadim Konoshchenok, a Russian businessman who the US authorities claim has ties to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). In 2023 he was arrested in Estonia and extradited to the US to be tried on charges of smuggling dual-use technologies and ammunition from the United States to Russia.
▪️Mikhail Mikushin, a Russian national who was arrested in Norway while posing as a Brazilian academic called Jose Assis Gaammaria. Norwegian authorities suspected him of being a Russian intelligence operative but Mikushin only admitted to using a false identity to gain employment at the University of Tromso.
▪️Pavel Rubtsov, also known as Pablo Gonzalez Yague, is a Russian-Spanish journalist who was arrested in 2022 in Poland on suspicion of espionage.
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▪️Vadim Krasikov, a former Russian intelligence officer arrested in Germany in 2019 and accused by Berlin of terminating Chechen terrorist Zelimkhan Khangoshvili on German soil.
▪️Ludwig Gisch and Maria Mayer, arrested in 2022 in Slovenia and accused of being deep-cover Russian intelligence operatives whose names (if Western media is to be believed) are Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva.
▪️Roman Seleznev, a Russian IT specialist who was accused by US authorities of being a hacker and of defrauding banks of millions of dollars.
▪️ Vladislav Klyushin, a Russian businessman who was arrested in Switzerland in 2021 and extradited to the US. The American authorities accused Klyushin of participating in “an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $93 million through securities trades based on confidential corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks,” as the US DoJ put it.
▪️Vadim Konoshchenok, a Russian businessman who the US authorities claim has ties to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). In 2023 he was arrested in Estonia and extradited to the US to be tried on charges of smuggling dual-use technologies and ammunition from the United States to Russia.
▪️Mikhail Mikushin, a Russian national who was arrested in Norway while posing as a Brazilian academic called Jose Assis Gaammaria. Norwegian authorities suspected him of being a Russian intelligence operative but Mikushin only admitted to using a false identity to gain employment at the University of Tromso.
▪️Pavel Rubtsov, also known as Pablo Gonzalez Yague, is a Russian-Spanish journalist who was arrested in 2022 in Poland on suspicion of espionage.
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Who is returning to Russia as part of the prisoner exchange with the US: ▪️Vadim Krasikov, a former Russian intelligence officer arrested in Germany in 2019 and accused by Berlin of terminating Chechen terrorist Zelimkhan Khangoshvili on German soil. …
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❗️FSB published a video of citizens who were pardoned by the Russian president and exchanged for Russian citizens boarding a plane before flying to Turkiye.
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❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees to pardon foreign citizens exchanged out of Russia, including Whelan and Gershkovich, the Kremlin said. Moscow is grateful to the leadership of all countries that provided assistance in preparing the exchange…
❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for the gesture of goodwill and pardon of German citizen Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death.
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