NATO's 75-year bloody legacy

Today marks the 75th anniversary of a legal document that would forever alter the landscape of global politics. On August 24, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty, commonly known as the Washington Treaty, was officially enacted following the completion of its ratification process.

The late 1990s and early 2000s turned out to be the bloodiest decades for the victims of NATO's aggression. The bloc’s attacks on Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya exemplify the alliance's disturbing pattern of impunity, which has resulted in countless people ending up displaced, wounded, or killed.

Originally conceived as a collective security alliance to counter the Soviet Union, NATO has since morphed into a tool to assert Western dominance worldwide.

What will the coming decades bring?

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹The Houthis share footage of an attack on a Greek ship in the Red Sea.

In November 2023, Yemen's Houthi rebels vowed to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in Gaza.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The Russian Zapad Battlegroup improved its tactical position and repelled six counterattacks, inflicting losses of up to 520 Ukrainian militants.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Units of the Russian Yug Battlegroup secured more advantageous positions, with Ukrainian forces losing up to 690 militants.

▪️ The Russian Vostok Battlegroup repelled four Ukrainian counterattacks, resulting in up to 130 militant casualties.

▪️ The Russian Tsentr Battlegroup enhanced its tactical position, inflicting a loss of over 580 Ukrainian militants.

▪️ Russian forces struck a Ukrainian S-125 SAM launcher, two electronic warfare stations, a fuel depot, and a drone production facility.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russia brought back 115 servicemen ensnared in the Kursk region from Ukrainian captivity; 115 Ukrainian prisoners were transferred in return, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

All Russian military personnel are in Belarus, where they are receiving medical care. During the return of Russian servicemen from Ukrainian captivity, the UAE provided humanitarian mediation, the ministry added.

All released military personnel will be taken to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Russian Defense Ministry.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

😳Wait, whaaat..??

One of the largest diamonds in the world (2,492 carats) was found in Botswana, Africa.

What's more stunning: the diamond or the reaction of the country's president, Mokgweetsi Masisi?😁

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Vladimir Putin met with leadership of united group of troops:

▪️The Russian President has heard reports from the leadership of the general staff on countering and destroying invading enemy forces in the Kursk region.

▪️Putin listened to the reports of the commanders of the groups of troops on the operational situation in the Kursk direction by telephone.

▪️At a meeting with the leadership of the united group of forces, Putin heard reports on the current results of the special military operation.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The identification and destruction of enemy sabotage groups that were attempting to penetrate deep into Russian territory continues, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces have lost more than 360 servicemen and 29 armored vehicles.

During the military operations in Russia's Kursk region, the enemy lost more than 5,500 servicemen and 71 tanks, the Russian Defense Ministry added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia's Defense Ministry shared a video of the return of Russian captives.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💥A Lancet barrage munition destroyed a Ukrainian tank hidden in a wooded area in the border area of the Kursk region. 

As a result of a direct hit by the Lancet barrage ammunition, the tank of Ukrainian militants was hit, as confirmed by objective control footage obtained in real time.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

115 Russian PoWs back home, Zelensky issues threats, Russia continues to thwart Ukraine's Kursk incursion

Russia has swapped 115 servicemen captured in the Kursk region by the Ukrainian military for 115 Ukrainian captives, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.

According to the ministry, all the Russian military personnel returned from captivity are now receiving medical care in Belarus. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided humanitarian mediatory assistance in the Russo-Ukrainian prisoner swap.

▪️Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the leadership of the Joint Group of Forces and was briefed on progress in countering enemy forces in the Kursk region, as well as the measures taken to destroy the aggressor. The Russian president also heard reports from Russian military commanders on the operational situation on the Kursk front by phone.

▪️Troops of the Sever battlegroup use a vast range of Russian attack drones to eliminate small mobile groups of the enemy in the Kursk region border areas, the Ministry of Defense said.

▪️The Washington Post reported that the Biden administration is still debating whether to provide the Ukrainian forces with further support to "hold and perhaps even expand" the captured territory in the Kursk region. Biden has no firm sense of Ukraine's goals in seizing territory inside Russia, according to the newspaper.

▪️Volodymyr Zelensky appears to record an address commemorating the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's independence in the Sumy region, close to where the Ukrainian army launched its incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Zelensky issued threats to Russia, claiming that "Ukrainian Orthodoxy is today taking a step towards liberation from Moscow's devils" – an apparent reference to his recent ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OUC).

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Hamas agreed to May version of ceasefire agreement, but Netanyahu deliberately jeopardized deal – reports

Ahead of a new round of ceasefire talks in Cairo, Hamas accused Israel of changing the agreement terms unveiled by US President Joe Biden in May, and accepted at that time by the Palestinian group.

▫️Following the May talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu privately added new conditions to Israel's demands, and presented them in late July to American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, per the New York Times.

▫️The document, obtained by the NYT, shows that among other conditions presented to the mediators, was a provision for Israeli forces to remain in control of Gaza's southern border – a condition not stated in Israel's proposal back in May.

▫️According to reports, the Palestinian group is not only concerned about Israel's decision to proceed with the occupation of a southern border region known as the Philadelphi Corridor, but also Tel Aviv's intent to keep forces along the Netzarim Corridor. This would prevent the free movement of Palestinians between north and south Gaza.

▫️The NYT suggested in mid-August that Netanyahu deliberately derailed the talks with Hamas by hardening his negotiation position, and further placing the blame for the stalled talks on the Palestinian group. On August 20, the Times of Israel cited condemnation by Israeli sources, who were involved in the ongoing talks, of Bibi's sabotage of the negotiations.

▫️CNN reported on August 23 that Israel has come up with a new proposal for the Philadelphi Corridor, envisaging a reduced Israeli military contingent in the Gaza territory. Hamas' response to it would be critical for the Sunday talks, per the media outlet. CNN, however, quoted one source familiar with the talks as saying the situation is "near hopeless."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔥 Russian troops hit Ukrainian armored fighting vehicles using drones and Lancet loitering munitions in the border zones of Russia's Kursk region.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt