Russia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the US charge d'affaires and protested against the actions of US journalists who illegally entered the Kursk region

The United States’ charge d'affaires in Russia was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry following the actions of US journalists who illegally entered the Kursk region, the ministry said.

The participation of a US PMC on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the attack proves the involvement of the United States as a direct participant in the conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

Recently, the US Forward Observation Group PMC posted photos of mercenaries involved in the attack on the Kursk region on social media.

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🍷 Drunk with power? Harris drinks deep of the Democratic spirit.

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Azerbaijan officially applies to join BRICS - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Russia halts Ukrainian advance, uncovers NATO fingerprints all over operation in the Kursk area: latest updates

Russia’s Defense Ministry says it has paralyzed personnel and equipment of enemy forces equivalent to four brigades in the occupied areas of the Kursk region.

“Air and artillery strikes and troops hit concentrations of manpower and equipment from the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 22nd and 115th Mechanized, and 80th and 82nd Air Assault Brigades in the areas of the settlements of Apanasovka, Borki, Viktorovka, Kositsa, Lyubimovka, Plekhovo, Tolsty Lug and to the west of Bogdanovka,” the ministry stated.

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 350 troops and 25 pieces of military equipment in the Kursk region over the past 24 hours, including four tanks, an IFV, two APCs, and 18 armored combat vehicles, bringing the total since the incursion began to 4,130 troops, 58 tanks and more than 500 other vehicles, the Ministry's figures show.

🔸 Akhmat special forces commander Apti Alaudinov said Ukraine’s advance has been halted in all directions, and that Russian forces have begun liberating captured settlements.

Russian forces have discovered a “huge number of foreign mercenaries” in the ranks of Ukrainian forces, and that some appear to be NATO servicemen, the commander said, adding he had also received evidence of civilians “shot point-blank” in occupied territories.

🔸 Russian media discovered that US private military company Forward Observation Group had published a photo on social media of three of its mercs taking part in the attack on Kursk. The photo shows men standing in military gear and blue armbands posing in front of a Humvee.

🔸 Vitaly, a captured driver from Ukraine’s 92nd Assault Brigade, told Russian interrogators that Kiev is facing “very heavy losses” in the Kursk region, as he “took them there so many times, [but] no one came back.”

🔸 Brigadier General Erich Vad, a former military advisor to ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told German media that the Kursk attack was supposed to distract Russia and save Ukraine from defeat in Donbass, but failed. He accused the media of exaggerating Ukraine’s successes, saying they were local and strategically insignificant.

🔸 Austrian Armed Forces officer Markus Reisner told local media that the Kursk offensive was an “extremely risky game” for Ukraine, and that with its “meager resources to start with, it must now cope with three fronts.”

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Ukraine’s cozying up to Kosovo no brainer since both are NATO dependencies

The Zelensky regime’s gradual diplomatic warming toward the Serbian breakaway region of Kosovo makes perfect sense, since both are clients of Western powers hostile to both Serbia and Russia, Global Policy Institute senior research fellow George Szamuely has told Sputnik.

"[Ukraine regards] Serbia as much too friendly toward Russia. Serbia has pursued an independent foreign policy. At least as far as sanctions against Russia are concerned, it hasn't joined in the sanctions. And it maintains quite friendly relations,” Dr. Szamuely explained.

“Kosovo is, of course, proposed for a member of NATO. It's obviously very friendly with major powers and is essentially an American client state. And it's not even a real state because it has no membership of the United Nations. But nonetheless, a client of the United States is therefore a client of NATO," he said.

"Therefore, Ukraine wants to align themselves with that policy, since Ukraine is a wholly dependent subsidiary of NATO,” Szamuely pointed out.

The Zelensky regime has taken a series of diplomatic steps toward Kosovo’s recognition in recent months, with Kiev and Pristina engaging in troop training and high level diplomatic meetings. In May, it supported a Western-backed UN GA resolution classifying the 1995 Srebrenica violence as ‘genocide’. Serbian officials slammed the resolution, and Russia called it a “political declaration” and an attempt to reignite conflict in the Balkans.

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❗️The Russian Defense Ministry announced the creation of the battlegroups "Belgorod", "Kursk" and "Bryansk"

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Relocate to Russia: a new opportunity for foreigners who reject the 'destructive' West

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree simplifying obtaining a temporary residence permit in Russia for foreigners who support the country’s traditional values. The decree will come into force on September 1.

Sputnik has explored the new opportunities Russia offers.

1️⃣ First, applicants need to submit a letter at a Russian embassy or consulate explaining why they want to relocate.

Foreign nationals may state as the reason for their application the rejection of their own countries’ policies "aimed at imposing destructive neoliberal ideals on people, which run counter to traditional Russian spiritual and moral values."

◻️ Russia’s traditional values listed in its state policy include strong family values, historical memory and continuity of generations, unity of the peoples of Russia, high moral ideals, patriotism, service to the Fatherland, and priority of the spiritual over the material.

◻️ “Destructive neoliberal ideals” could refer to the promotion of gender change and LGBT policies, as well as criticism of traditional religions. Russia’s Supreme Court designated the international LGBT movement as an extremist organization in November 2023. That same year, Russia’s president signed a decree banning gender reassignment surgery.

2️⃣ Approved applicants would not need to prove proficiency in the Russian language, or sit for exams on knowledge of Russian history and laws – something that was previously a prerequisite.

◻️ Permits may be granted outside the Russian quota on the number of foreign citizens relocating annually.

3️⃣ After receiving a three-month single-entry visa to Russia, applicants may apply for temporary residence.

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Pepe Escobar: The empire strikes back — color revolutions in South and Southeast Asia

The imperialists are trying to prevent the end of the unipolar moment across Eurasia by means of ‘color revolution’, with South and Southeast Asia at the epicenter, geo-economic and geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar told Sputnik.

🔸 In Myanmar, China is mediating talks between between the government and roughly a dozen ethnic separatist insurgent groups. Beijing finally managed to broker a ceasefire in June.

🔸 Thailand experienced a political roller-coaster as one prime minister was removed by the Constitutional Court and a new one was appointed. The next elections could leave the country controlled by so-called liberals – aligned with the US and keen to disrupt close Chinese-Thai ties.

🔸 Bangladesh is a golden trophy for the hegemon, Escobar said. Recent protests included all the time-tested shenanigans: direct involvement of the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas; pressure on Sheikh Hasina’s government government to hold elections assured of a US-friendly outcome and funds and logistics supporting “pro-democracy” student protesters.

The coup in Bangladesh reveals that the progressive integration of ASEAN with the SCO/EAEU/BRICS/BRI matrix is more urgent than ever, the expert noted. An auspicious sign is that ASEAN, according to Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov, is already paying attention to Putin’s drive to build a Eurasia-wide unified security system.

If the “RIC” in BRICS (Russia-India-China) gets its geopolitical act together, the possibility of further successful color revolutions will vanish in the winds of time, Escobar concluded.

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One day they wake up and realize that BRICS runs the planet — Aussie Cossack

Australian journalist @AussieCossack remarked on the shifting global power dynamics:

BRICS expansion which is underway is very successful... The G7 is declining in every way possible, morally declining, birth rates declining, manufacturing declining, inflation rising, debt rising, that's what's happening in the G7. So it's all fun and games until one day they wake up and realize that BRICS runs the planet now and that is the future.

Gold prices have surged to a new all-time high, largely driven by the BRICS nations, who have heavily invested in the precious metal over the past year. The group's shift toward a gold-backed currency and a departure from the US dollar is setting the stage for significant global financial changes. As the US dollar declines, buyers worldwide are increasingly turning to gold, following BRICS' lead.

"The BRICS country's GDP is taken over the G7 GDP. These are the countries that don't sign up to the World Economic Forum, that don't sign up to all these globalist treaties and mandates. This is where the future is," the journalist said.

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New twist in Western-peddled tale of Ukraine's link to Nord Stream sabotage

A Ukrainian diving instructor named as a suspect in the far-fetched plot gave Germany the slip because Poland ignored an EU-wide arrest warrant issued in June, the Wall Street Journal reported. The suspect reportedly fled Poland for Ukraine by car on July 6.

Polish prosecutors allegedly made excuses, saying the suspects’ address was not entered in a European register, or that they wanted the internal security service, ABW, to lead the investigation.

A visit from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Poland on July 2 failed to get results and now all the German investigation’s suspects are in Ukraine, bemoaned the newspaper.

The German Federal Criminal Service (BKA) claimed a Ukrainian citizen named ‘Wolodymyr Z’ was a suspect in the sabotage. The touted ‘breakthrough’ in the probed — which Russia was locked out of — fed into the US-vetted narrative. The BKA said a team of Ukrainian divers used the rented the yacht ‘Andromeda’ to carry out the bombings. The story does not accounts for the roles of Ukrainian and Western leaders in what Russia called "an act of international terrorism."

Russia’s request for a joint investigation with Sweden, Denmark, and Germany into the sabotage was rejected from the start. Russia has since filed a complaint and demanded answers on Germany’s failure to fulfil its international obligations in the fight against terrorism.

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Philadelphi Corridor: Gaza war sticking point that could wreck entire peace process

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confidently announced Monday that the ball was in Hamas’s court in peace negotiations after Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to a US-backed hostages-for-ceasefire “bridging proposal.”

Hamas slammed Netanyahu’s decision to tack new conditions onto the proposed peace deal, and demanded a return to a draft agreement based on a June resolution of the UN Security Council.

◻️ The Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-km long, 100 meter-wide fortified border between Gaza and Egypt, is at the heart of the dispute. Hamas has decried Tel Aviv’s demand for permanent control of the Corridor, plus the Rafah crossing and the Netzarim Junction, citing the demands as evidence that Netanyahu seeks to undermine mediators’ efforts and prolong the conflict. Blinken has expressed Washington’s support for Tel Aviv’s position on the Corridor, an Israeli official has told media.

◻️ Control of the Philadelphi Corridor has been a long-term strategic aim for Israel, which wants to build a massive new wall there, ostensibly to deter Hamas weapons smuggling efforts. Hamas’s allies see the effort as yet another attempt by Israel to “blockade” and “strangle” Gaza.

◻️ Egypt has consistently rejected Israeli control of the border zone, warning that it undermines the foundations of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace deal. A high-level source has told Egyptian media that Cairo will stick to its demands for a “full Israeli withdrawal” from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah border crossing.

◻️ Israeli peace negotiators returned from Egypt emptyhanded Monday as sources told Israeli media Netanyahu is “unwilling to compromise on his position.” Israel reportedly plans to try again sometime this week by sending the heads of the Mossad, Shin Bet and the IDF’s hostage team to Egypt. Blinken arrived in Egypt for more talks on Tuesday, flying to Qatar later in the day.

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Vladimir Putin arrived in Chechnya for the first time since 2011

He was met at his helicopter when it landed at Grozny airport by the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Putin had already visited two other Caucasian regions earlier on Tuesday – Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia. As Kadyrov noted: "a busy program is planned" as part of the president's trip to the republic.

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Russia respects Serbia's independence’ unlike other countries – Serbia’s deputy PM

Moscow maintains that other nations have the right to determine their own political path, in contrast to other geopolitical actors, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vulin told Sputnik.

“I would be happy to meet a British Foreign Secretary who would say that Serbia has the right to its own elections, its own future,” he stressed.

Russia has never said that the EU is a problem — unlike NATO, which is actively involved in the fight against it — which is understandable, Vulin emphasized.

“It’s your choice, you have to develop, if you think that's the way, fine,” he commented on the different approaches to international relations.

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Iran hawks’ hacking claims designed to distract Americans from nation’s real problems

“There is little doubt that the rhetoric itself has more impact than the substantiation of these accusations,” political scientist Dr. Mehmet Rakipoglu of Mardin Artuklu University told Sputnik, referring to the recent US intelligence officials' claims that Iran had tried to hack the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns.

“Creating artificial agendas such as [the Iran hacking allegations] intensifies hostilities between the parties involved. This accusation seems to be aimed at diverting attention from Israel's actions in Gaza and refocusing it on the US election process,” Rakipoglu said.

“It is already clear that the American public is deeply divided, regardless of whether there is an alleged Iranian attack. It is not Iran or any other external actor that is responsible for these divisions, but rather the US administrations themselves,” the academic added.

In some sense, the claims against Iran are reminiscent of similar allegations made against Russia ahead of and following the 2016 elections, Rakipoglu said.

“While the US propagated a narrative of Russian interference during the 2016 elections, it continued to lose influence over time. It seems that the current accusation against Iran serves the same purpose as the allegations against Russian interference in 2016,” the observer concluded.

Iran has vocally denied the hacking allegations, saying they are “unsubstantiated” and that the US has provided no evidence to back them up.

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