'Eastern Economic Forum is clear evidence that Russia is attractive to all those who share traditional values'

Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin explains why Russia is becoming a kind of safe haven for those who do not share the so-called "liberal rules-based order".

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Zelensky's gov't reshuffle reflects West's covert power tussle over Ukraine

Ukraine’s cabinet reshuffle reflects the behind-the-scenes tussle between London and Washington for influence over the failed regime, Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries and the Other Ukraine movement expert, told Sputnik.

One can speculate that newly appointed figures will be more pro-American than pro-British, he said, adding that either way they are eager to do the West’s bidding.

‘The British wing insists more on a more aggressive stance and continuation of military actions; America might prefer to freeze the conflict and move on to a carve-up [of Ukraine] while maintaining a threat to Russia, Dudchak said.

However, the ‘reset’ throes of the Kiev regime and its expired leader Volodymyr Zelensky mean nothing to Russia and ‘all those who understand that the problem lies with the Nazi regime supported and financed by the West.’

What they are likely going to do is ‘simply find more efficient ones, those who talk less and perform their duties at a sprightlier pace,’ Dudchak speculated.

The pundit likened the ongoing reshuffle to a "pre-sale process" for Ukraine, speculating that its remaining assets need to be legally ‘prepared’ for the transfer of ownership.

"Basically, the country is in a de facto default, which they have not yet declared, and are waiting for the moment when they can probably declare it. And perhaps they will install cheaper managers," Dudchak said.

Regarding who might take the place of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who also resigned, Dudchak suggested they would dig up someone "drab and unpretentious."

“There is no point in showing off your talents and trying to become a personality among all these ghouls [in Kiev],” the researcher concluded.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤡 Most cringeworthy moments of Ukraine’s outgoing FM Kuleba

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has announced his resignation amid an anticipated government reshuffle. The top diplomat can take credit for a batch of outright failures, such as the so-called peace summit in Switzerland, and a trail of scandalous and cringeworthy remarks.

Let’s recall a few from his time in office:

◻️ “Give us the damn Patriots!” - When President Biden’s $60 billion aid package for Ukraine stalled in Congress, Kuleba did not mince words, erupting into his trademark rudeness often associated with Ukrainian officials.

◻️ “I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine, and try to liberate one square centimeter themselves!” - This outburst directed at critics of Ukraine’s failed summer 2023 counteroffensive occurred during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Spain last year.

◻️ “You will still give us the Taurus missiles; it’s only a matter of time. So why waste it?” - Germany’s reluctance to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine in 2023 left Kuleba seething with frustration.

◻️ “I am tired of countering all these meaningless arguments. It’s all just blah blah blah.” - Another outburst from Kuleba in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s comments about Ukraine’s loss of sovereignty.

◻️ “Crimea is not the nearest operational target. But if you ask me who is blowing up something in Crimea or Belgorod, then in private communication, I will tell you that, yes, it’s us.” - Russian prankster duo Vovan and Lexus, posing as ex-US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, duped Kuleba into spilling the beans on Ukraine’s complicity in terrorist attacks on Russian soil during a private Zoom conversation.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤡 US Navy commander relieved of duty after embarrassing rifle scope photo flop

The commander of a US Navy destroyer that is helping protect the San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in the Middle East has been relieved of his duties some four months after being seen in a photo firing a rifle with the scope mounted backwards.

The Navy said Yaste was relieved of his duties “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command the guided-missile destroyer,” which is currently deployed in the Gulf of Oman.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US slaps sanctions on Rossiya Segodnya media group, including RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik and Ruptly

The sanctions target 10 individuals and two organizations for "hostile interference in the presidential elections," the US Treasury Department revealed. These include the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik, and Ruptly. These measures also target the editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya and RT, Margarita Simonyan, and several top managers at RT.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Wow, they "woke" up

That's how Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, commented on the sanctions against her and a number of RT top managers.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian work on updated nuclear doctrine caused by NATO’s brazen aggression – expert

💬 “The United States and NATO are becoming increasingly aggressive toward Russia, and we need to make clarifications to some fundamental documents,” veteran military analyst Viktor Litovkin told Sputnik, remarking on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s comments Wednesday that Western powers’ refusal to engage in dialogue, targeting of Moscow’s security interests and the incitement of the conflict in Ukraine have been taken into account by Russia in work on an updated nuclear doctrine.

“The war in Ukraine is not a war between Ukraine and Russia. It is a war between the West and Russia using the territory of Ukraine, and the lives of Ukrainian servicemen. It is an attempt to weaken Russia, to bring Russia to ruin and to deprive Russia of its competitive advantage in the international arena,” Litovkin explained. Russia “is not going to seek hegemony, as the US is doing, but we are also not going to lose our independence, sovereignty and right to independent action,” Litovkin added.

Russia’s current nuclear doctrine consists of four key points divided among two documents, according to Litovkin – one being Russia’s general Military Doctrine, and the other a June 2020 presidential decree ‘On the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence’.

The former provides for the use of nuclear weapons in two cases:

◾️ if Russia or its allies are attacked using nuclear weapons,

◾️ if Russia is attacked using conventional means so severe the very existence of the state is threatened.

The latter allows Russia to fire its nuclear weapons

◻️ if it becomes aware that a ballistic missile has been launched toward it, or

◻️ if a strike is launched at government and military command and control centers.

Litovkin believes the goal of the updated doctrine will be “to combine these two documents into one,” and “clarify the role of nuclear weapons in ensuring Russia’s security and ensuring deterrence against a possible aggressor.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

◻️ Eastern Economic Forum’s Day Two. Selection of exclusive interviews:

👉 American political commentator Jackson Hinkle on US’ ‘frightening’ clampdown against alternative media

👉 On-the-ground reality in Russia’s new regions greatly differs from what Americans hear in mainstream legacy media, Hinkle says

👉 Christopher Douglas Emms, head of the Brokerage Division, LM Investments, on new BRICS blockchain payment system

◻️ What’s Zelensky’s surprise government reshuffle all about?

◻️ ‘I’d recommend all critics to shut up’: most cringeworthy moments of Ukraine’s outgoing FM Kuleba

◻️ Why has Russia been working to update its nuclear doctrine?

◻️ Check out how BoJo got pranked again!

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Pokrovsk pincer: Why Russia’s advance on strategic city could doom Ukraine’s Donbass defenses

Fierce battles are underway between the Russian and Ukrainian armies for the approaches to Pokrovsk (formerly Krasnoarmeysk), a key city in the Ukrainian-occupied Donbass about 60 km northwest of Donetsk.

Russian troops have approached the city’s outskirts, testing Ukrainian defensive lines. The Ukrainian General Staff said Wednesday that the Pokrovsk area was one of the “hottest” along the entire front.

◻️ Situated near the administrative border of Dnepropetrovsk region, Pokrovsk and its environs are a strategic transport hub and economic center in Ukrainian-occupied Donbass. Defense observers say Russia’s liberation of the city would cut supply lines of Ukrainian forces in Chasov Yar, and give Russian troops a chance to flank the enemy in Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.

◻️ That’s because Pokrovsk is a key railway and highway junction, situated at the intersection of rail lines leading to Pavlograd and Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk). The M30 (E50) Pokrovsk-Karlovka-Donetsk highway passes through the city, as do three other major roads.

◻️ Roughly 15 km southwest of Pokrovsk is Krasnoarmeyskaya-Zapadnaya Mine №1, one of the only coking coal mines left in Ukraine’s possession, with its estimated reserves of over 200 million tons of coal crucial to Ukraine’s waning metallurgy sector. Economists say losing the mine could strike a crushing blow to Ukraine’s economy and energy sector.

◻️ Western media and officials have sounded the alarm about the dire situation in Pokrovsk. Forbes warned that “hundreds of Ukrainian troops” from four separate brigades could be encircled if local defenses crack, and said that “a Ukrainian retreat may already be underway.”

◻️ Former German MoD chief of staff Nico Lange told Newsweek that “what we see in Pokrovsk is the result of the very late and insufficient mobilization effort that was delayed politically in Ukraine.” “Not having mobilized enough, defense around Pokrovsk is now a big problem,” with “many units” unable to hold the line or having to retreat “because they are just staffed by 10 or 20 or 30 percent,” Lange said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Free speech for me but not thee?

“While election interference must never be tolerated by any country, weaponizing the implication of it to silence dissenting voices undermines the very principles of free speech,” Mario Nawfal, investor and host of the largest show on X, told Sputnik, commenting on the sanctions against the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik, and Ruptly.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Kiev regime’s military actions in Kursk border zone yield dire consequences for Ukraine

The actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk border area have had disastrous consequences for Kiev. Instead of succeeding in breaking through towards the town of Kurchatov, Ukrainian troops have been grappling with a serious crisis in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

The Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that fighting in the Kursk region persists. Ukrainian forces are attempting to advance on several settlements, including Borki, Maryevka, Kamyshevka, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Olgovka, Korenevo, and Martynovka, but these assaults are being effectively repelled.

"The situation is catastrophic, the Russian army is advancing faster than in the summer of 2022, and the Ukrainian military is preparing to defend the Dnieper," this is how German journalist Julian Roepcke, who recently praised the successes of the Ukrainian armed forces, assessed Ukraine's predicament.

The shift in mood stems from the challenging circumstances facing Kiev on multiple fronts simultaneously. Currently, the majority of attention is directed toward Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk). The Russian Defense Ministry reports that Russian troops have advanced to a convenient, strategic defensive line consisting of four settlements: Mirnograd (Dmitrov), Grodovka, Novogrodovka, and Selidovo. These areas, interconnected by an extensive road network and surrounded by piles of rubble and high-rise buildings, have the potential to provide a robust defense for the district center for the foreseeable future.

Reports from the Ukrainian side indicate that Russian troops successfully captured Novogrodovka within just a few days last week. Verkhovna Rada MP Maryana Bezuglaya stated that while fortifications existed in the area, there were no units available to defend them.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The US lacks the resources to develop its own space force to the extent needed, the second vice chief of space operations revealed

“We are definitely sacrificing some because there’s not enough resources to go around,” he said. “We know we can’t buy everything we need, so we are ruthlessly prioritizing all the kit that we’re buying to make sure that it’s the biggest bang for the buck, if you will, during times of crisis or conflict,” Gen. Michael Guetlein said Wednesday at the annual Defense News Conference in Arlington, Virginia.

The US risks devastating consequences for everything Americans hold dear in the absence of increased investment in space force development, the military commander added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

UN refuses to comment on sanctions against Russian media, citing bilateral relations

The United Nations has no comment on the latest sanctions against Rossiya Segodnya media group, including RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik and Ruptly, considering it a matter of bilateral relations, UN Spokesman Farhan Haq told Sputnik.

“We don’t comment on bilateral relations as a rule. These are not UN sanctions,” Haq said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌠 An asteroid, discovered on Wednesday, entered Earth's atmosphere and was observed over the Philippines

"The small asteroid 2024 RW1... entered the atmosphere at a speed of 20.8 kilometers per second over the islands," reported the International Meteor Organization.

Videos of the asteroid have gone viral on social media.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Fourteen out of 18 paragraphs in Gaza ceasefire deal finalized – senior US official

The Gaza ceasefire deal which is being negotiated at the moment has a total of 18 paragraphs and the parties have already finalized 14 of them, a senior Biden administration official said.

“The [ceasefire] deal has 18 total paragraphs, 14 of those paragraphs are finished,” the official said during a press briefing. “Basically, 90% of this deal has been agreed, and it's been agreed on terms that even Hamas had in their own proposal.”

According to the official, the issues of Israel’s presence in the Philadelphi corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt as well as the exchange of prisoners remain in dispute.

At the same time, the official claimed that Hamas threatened to execute more Israeli hostages it holds in the Gaza Strip.

"Hamas is threatening to execute more hostages," the official said.

On Monday, Netanyahu said that Israel needed to maintain a military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt–Gaza border. In his opinion, reaching military aims as well as the release of hostages are possible only under this condition.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Palestinian movement Hamas said that it does not need new proposals for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but it does need pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implement provisions of the agreement that were agreed upon.

"We do not need new proposals. What we need now is to put pressure on Netanyahu and his government and force them to implement what was agreed upon," Hamas said in a statement.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

United States’ targeting of Russian media highlights hypocrisy of the global hegemon – former CIA analyst Larry Johnson

Former CIA analyst and State Department counterterrorism expert Larry Johnson spoke with Sputnik to criticize the United States’ persecution of journalists and political analysts associated with Russian media.

“The latest stunt pulled by the Biden Department of Justice to declare all of these sanctions on Russia for alleged interference in the US political system is a level of hypocrisy that is staggering in its magnitude and in its foulness,” said the analyst. “Let's be clear about one thing: the one country in the world that has been involved with more interference in the internal political affairs of every other country is the United States.”

The US frequently funds pro-Western media and activism in foreign countries it targets for regime change to pave the way for a pro-US government to come to power.

“This year [the US has] allocated almost $4 billion to interfere or meddle in the political affairs of other countries,” he continued. “$315 million of that goes to the National Endowment for Democracy. $300 million is specifically what they call counter-Russian influence. And another $2.9 billion is for ‘democracy’ programs. And these have been used basically to run propaganda, to pay people, to organize ‘democracy’ programs in places like Georgia.”

The US has interfered in countries such as Georgia, Brazil, Indonesia and Ukraine, paving the way for the latter country’s extremist anti-Russia government through its support for the Euromaidan coup d'etat in 2014.

“It's the United States that's meddling,” Johnson emphasized.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

“They're going to try to attack any kind of alternative voice in the media” – former CIA analyst Larry Johnson

“How is a news network that's not allowed to broadcast and that’s shut [out] of social media in the United States supposed to influence [the election]?” former State Department counterterrorism expert Larry Johnson told Sputnik.

The recent persecution of figures connected to RT and Sputnik is merely another attempt to run the “Russiagate” playbook, attempting to discredit alternative media outlets that critique US foreign policy, Johnson highlighted. “Electoral interference” continues to take place, Johnson claimed, but it is not the Russians but the US government that is engaged in an attempt to influence and control the popular narrative for its own benefit.

“With respect to the entire bogus claim that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, we now know without a doubt that that was a Democrat operation led by Hillary Clinton and her team,” the analyst stressed.

“Everything we were told about Donald Trump and the Russians was a lie. I was one of the few writing about it at the time to call it out… The notion that RT is manipulating and influencing the presidential election is beyond laughable,” he continued, noting that the Russian television channel’s app is banned from many app stores in the West while its content has been removed from YouTube and other websites.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚛️ Eying a new Three Mile Island? US plans to restart closed nuclear reactors fraught with risks

Surging electricity demand fueled by power-hungry computers, electric vehicles and factories have prompted proponents of nuclear power to lobby the reopening of 13 mothballed reactors, but as few as three are actually eligible for reactivation, Bloomberg has reported.

Besides a trio of reactors at eligible NPPs, ten others eyed for reopening may not be safe, or even possible, to restore, the outlet says, pointing to damage done to closed plants at San Onofre, California, and Crystal River, Florida, and partially dismantled facilities, like Vermont Yankee and Indian Point in the US northeast.

“Even if a facility is intact, not all owners have done the costly maintenance needed to keep it in good enough shape to justify bringing it back,” Bloomberg noted. That’s not to mention the costs involved, with the Palisades NPP in Michigan alone requiring some $1.8 bln in federal and state funding to come back online by 2025.

Two other eligible sites include the Three Mile Island NPP in Pennsylvania, made famous in March 1979 after suffering a partial meltdown which permanently closed one of its two reactors and released radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. The other is Duane Arnold NPP in Iowa, which was damaged in a windstorm in 2020. The plants’ owners have yet to commit to bring them back online, and seem unlikely to do so without state support.

There are presently 54 commercial NPPs operating across 28 US states running 94 reactors total. While growing numbers of Americans (56%, according to a recent Pew poll) support more nuclear power, the energy source faces a number of hurdles, not least of which is US reliance on imported enriched uranium.

In May, President Biden signed a law banning Russian uranium imports, effective January 1, 2028. For now, the US remains dependent on Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan for nearly 50% of its uranium. US nuclear power companies have lobbied the White House to keep Russian uranium off sanctions lists since 2022. Nuclear energy accounted for close to 20% of all electricity generated in the US in 2023.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Middle Eastern, African countries interested in Russia’s Checkmate fighter jet – official

A number of Middle Eastern and African countries have shown interest in the Russian Checkmate light tactical fighter, and project proposals have been forwarded to interested partners, the head of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, told Sputnik.

"A number of countries in the region have shown interest in the Checkmate light tactical aircraft. Project proposals have now been sent to interested partners," Mikheev said on the sidelines of the Egypt International Airshow, which is taking place at El Alamein International Airport.

He also noted that the aircraft will receive unmanned and two-seater modifications.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Rosoboronexport discussing with partners joint development of Su-57-based aircraft

Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport is discussing with Russia's strategic partners the joint development of an aircraft based on the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet, Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev told Sputnik.

"We are discussing with Russia's strategic partners the joint creation of an aircraft based on the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter," Mikheev said on the sidelines of the Egypt International Airshow, taking place at El Alamein International Airport.

The Middle East and Africa account for over 50% of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport's order portfolio, the company's head said.

"The combined share of the Middle East and Africa in Rosoboronexport's order portfolio is over 50%, or over $25 billion," Mikheev highlighted.

The Egypt International Airshow is taking place September 3-5 at El Alamein Airport in northern Egypt. According to the organizers, the exhibition presents the latest products and services in the aerospace industry. More than 200 companies from over 80 countries are attending the event. The exhibition has been organized with the support of the Egyptian defense and civil aviation ministries.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt