🔹Ukraine turned into weapon “against Russia” and “bargaining chip”, explains Vladimir Putin

🔹Israel accused of buying Google ads to block UNRWA donations – report

🔹AfD wins elections in Thuringia, finishes second in Saxony

More Stories: 

🔶‘Crucible of terrorism’: NATO trained ex-general laments US failure in Afghanistan

🔶Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, exhibits master-class on avoiding difficult questions

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Anti-establishment parties have triumphed in Germany's regional elections, delivering a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Eurosceptic party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), won a regional ballot for the first time, surpassing Scholz's ruling coalition.

▪️AfD secured 32.8% in Thuringia, leading the race, followed by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 23.6%, according to exit polls.

▪️In Saxony, the Eurosceptic party garnered 30.6%, losing to the CDU by a narrow margin.

▪️The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) claimed third place in both races, with 15.8% in Thuringia and 11.8% in Saxony.

▪️Scholz's "traffic-light" coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) performed poorly. The FDP failed to reach the 5% threshold required to enter either regional legislature, and the Greens did not make it into the parliament in Thuringia. SPD received 6.1% and 7.3% in Thuringia and Saxony, respectively.

"We are ready to take on government responsibility," AfD leader in Thuringia, Bjorn Hocke, declared, celebrating what he called a "historic victory."

Omid Nouripour, co-leader of the Greens, lamented the outcome and described it as "a profound turning point" in German history.

The AfD's victory sparked a heated debate, with mainstream Western media warning that Germany's political center is "crumbling" ahead of the next federal election in September 2025. Some outlets noted that Scholz have been "humbled" by the German right-wing party.

Others highlighted the rise of anti-establishment parties in Germany, acknowledging that both AfD and BSW, which advocate halting arms supplies to Ukraine, and imposing immigration controls, have performed notably well.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️LIVE: Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, delivers open lesson ‘Conversation about important things’

Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Who spoiled relationship between Russia and the US? Trump explains

"We could have had a much different relationship with Russia. I will say this, between Obama and Biden, they pushed Russia into the arms of China... Russia is now friends with them because of Biden and Obama," Donald Trump told Fox News. 

The US Presidential candidate also added that Obama and Biden are the ones to blame for the Russian-Chinese alliance, as well as the beginning of Russia's special military operation.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️LIVESTREAM: Vladimir Putin stated that "Russian forces will do everything to restore normal life in regions bordering Ukraine."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💬Ukraine's incursion into the Russian Kursk region is an attempt to stop Russia's offensive in the Donbass - it failed to do so.

— Russian President Vladimir Putin

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Turkiye tried to resume agreements on the protection of maritime food supplies in the spring - Russia was ready for this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

He added that during negotiations with Turkiye on the safety of commercial shipping, Ukraine proposed to include an item on the safety of nuclear power plants in the document.

Russia was ready to agree to this proposal, but Kiev refused it later, the minister stressed.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Kamala Harris is the 'clear underdog': Democrats lowering expectations or offering reality check?

The Democrats enter the final phase of the election as "the clear underdogs”, Harris-Walz campaign chief, Jen O'Malley Dillon, wrote in a memo noscriptd "The State of the Race 65 Days Out."

Dillon, previously confident in Joe Biden's victory despite poor poll results, had never made such a statement before. The US mainstream media cites Harris' rising approval numbers, while questioning Dillon's newfound caution.

What’s troubling the Harris-Walz campaign chief?

🔸Despite record fundraising, increased volunteer interest, and a spike in voter enthusiasm, Dillon cautions that "Donald Trump has a motivated base of support, with more backing and higher favorability than he has had at any point since 2020."

🔸The upcoming debate between Vice President Harris and Trump, with the latter described in the memo as "a formidable opponent", is another note of concern.

🔸Dillon observes, "In 2020, the election came down to about 40,000 votes across the battleground states. This November, we anticipate similarly razor-thin margins."

🔸Additionally, Trump is "a heavily defined candidate", whereas American voters are less familiar with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Dillon urges "aggressive campaigning" to "introduce and define [the Harris-Walz] ticket to the voters."

🔸The New York Times suggests the memo is "an artful attempt to lower expectations" and "boost fundraising", while reinvigorating the base.

🔸Republicans argue that Harris is the underdog, claiming her poll lead results from deliberate oversampling of Democratic voters. They criticize her as economically "illiterate" and point to her controversial record as Joe Biden's vice president.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian Tsentr battlegroup liberated the settlement of Skuchnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic — Russian Defense Ministry

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian troops carried out strikes with precision weapons and drones at night on Ukraine's energy facilities and military-industrial plant used for repair of aircraft and missile weapons, Russia's Defense Ministry informed.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Vladimir Putin said that members of his family speak Chinese

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

'They're completely killing women's sports': Vladimir Putin spoke about the situation with boxer Imane Khelif who failed the gender test at the Olympics

"Since any man can declare himself a woman, just declare and perform in any sport, leaving no chance for women to take prizes, much less first places," the Russian president said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Turkiye reportedly applies to join BRICS

"Turkiye has formally asked to join the BRICS group of emerging-market nations as it seeks to bolster its global influence and forge new ties beyond its traditional Western allies, according to people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg writes.

BRICS was established in 2009 as a cooperation platform for the largest emerging economies, uniting Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined the group in 2010. Russia assumed the bloc's rotating presidency on January 1, 2024. On the same day, BRICS expanded its membership to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has not formalized its participation but has been taking part in BRICS meetings.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Ukrainian losses in the Russian Kursk region amounted to more than 350 militants and 14 armored vehicles during the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that Russian troops repelled six Ukrainian attacks.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

RIP Hvaldimir: Video tribute to ‘top-secret spy whale from classified Russian naval program’

A friendly beluga whale known as Hvaldimir - a portmanteau of “hval” (Norwegian for “whale” and Vladimir) who inadvertently managed to spark a spy craze in Norway a few years ago has passed away, its body found floating off the Norwegian coast this weekend.

When first spotted in the waters near Hammerfest in 2019, the whale was wearing a harness with a label reading "Equipment of St. Petersburg," which led some brilliant minds in Norwegian military and media circles to claim that the creature could have been some Russian intelligence asset.

Apparently, this is how a super-secret Russian Navy spy whale looked like (see the video for reference).

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹In the Russian Republic of Tuva which borders Mongolia, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tubten Shedrub Ling, the largest Buddhist monastery in Russia.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt