Draft minerals deal with the US not in Ukraine's favor — Rada lawmaker

The draft agreement between Kiev and Washington on Ukrainian resources now includes all minerals, including oil and gas, said member of the Verkhovnaya Rada, Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

The agreement is expected to be indefinite, while security guarantees for Ukraine are not mentioned there, he said, referring to the text of the draft deal he had obtained.

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📹CENTCOM will keep bombing everything in Yemen – Pepe Escobar on the US targeting hospitals

"So this is what CENTCOM does best, apart from bombing civilian areas in Sanaa and bombing the port of Hodeida. THEY BOMB CANCER HOSPITALS like this one," Sputnik’s contributor @rocknrollgeopolitics reports from Saada, northern Yemen.

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❗️Ukrainian forces continue to strike Russian energy facilities - Ministry of Defense.

A power line was shut down in the Bryansk region due to a drone attack and there was another attempt to attack the ground equipment of the Glebovskoye underground gas storage facility in Crimea on Wednesday evening.

As a result of artillery shelling of a facility belonging to the branch of Rosseti Center - Bryanskenergo, a transformer substation was disabled on Thursday morning.

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😨 No childhood in Ukraine?

In Kiev schools, children are now learning to fly first-person view drones.

Have the problems with the numbers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces gone that far?

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸 Russian air defenses shot down 137 drones, a MiG-29 aircraft, two JDAM bombs and a HIMARS missile

🔸 Ukraine lost more than 210 militants in the Russian Battlegroup Zapad's combat zone

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 280 militants in the Russian Battlegroup Yug's combat zone

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 465 militants in the Russian Battlegroup Tsentr's combat zone

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 80 militants in the Russian Battlegroup Dnepr's combat zone

🔸 Ukraine lost over 190 militants in the Kursk region


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🇨🇳🪄 A mystical sight: Cloud waterfalls over ancient Chengzi village in China's Yunnan

Witness the enchanting "cloud waterfalls" flowing over the ancient Chengzi village in China's southwest Yunnan region. It's a surreal landscape where mist and mountains merge seamlessly.

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🇱🇹💡Friendly fire: Lithuanian electric edition

After Lithuania disconnected from the shared power grid with Russia and Belarus, residents of Sovietsk in Russia's Kaliningrad region can no longer see Lithuania at night as lights go out, but Lithuanians are still comfortably keeping an eye on Sovietsk, where the lights remain on.

Electricity prices in Latvia and other Baltic countries have skyrocketed after the disconnection from Russia and Belarus.

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What do the EU and the US exactly sponsor in Ukraine?

Volodymyr Zelensky complaining about Ukraine’s inability to pay retirement benefits to millions of its pensioners highlights the country’s failure to fulfill its basic obligations to its citizens without foreign aid.

How much have Ukraine’s Western sponsors allocated in aid so far?

🟠 After the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in 2022, Ukraine received over $30 billion in US budget aid just to pay salaries to state employees.

🟠 Over $20 billion in US direct budget aid to Ukraine was funneled via the USAID through the Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance ( PEACE ), a World Bank-administered trust fund set up to assist the Ukrainian government.

🟠 In September 2023, the World Bank provided Ukraine with $100 million under Britain’s guarantee and under the auspices of PEACE, to help the Ukrainian government finance social payments.

🟠 In December 2023, another $1.34 billion financial support package was rendered to Ukraine via PEACE to “help sustain critical government services at national and regional levels.” The package included a $50 million grant from the US.

EU assistance

The European Union has also provided financial aid to Ukraine, part of which has been aimed at supporting Ukraine's public administration and welfare systems. Through its macro-financial assistance (MFA) programs, the EU has disbursed loans and grants that allow the Ukrainian government to continue paying public sector salaries, pensions, and other social benefits.

Other European countries

Several individual European countries, including Germany and France, have contributed to Ukraine's financial stability, helping cover the costs of salaries and pensions, often through bilateral assistance or through EU-led initiatives.

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Thirty-eight Russians have been rescued after a tourist submarine sank off the coast of Hurghada in Egypt. The fate of those remaining is still unknown, Russia's Consulate General told Sputnik.

There were 45 Russian citizens on board the vessel.

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🔎 Signal: Deep state's CIA tool to frame Team Trump?

Signalgate has sparked speculation about alleged CIA involvement in National Security Adviser Michael Waltz's mishap.

What's behind the suspicions?

▪️Clinton's push: The app Signal was created as part of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's initiative to equip pro-US foreign coup plotters with encryption tools. It was inspired by color revolutions in the Middle East, including the 2011 Arab Spring, per Bloomberg.

▪️CIA's spinoff? Signal’s development was funded through the Open Technology Fund (OTF), a Radio Free Asia (RFA) program launched under Clinton’s initiative. RFA was originally created as a CIA broadcasting tool in the 1950s.

▪️Deep state tool? In May 2024, City Journal cited an OTF employee as saying that OTF-funded tools, including Signal, have long been US foreign policy instruments tied to intelligence services.

▪️Globalist ties: Signal Foundation chair Katherine Maher began her career with the NDI as a color revolution agent. A former Wikimedia CEO, she promoted online censorship of conservatives and criticized Donald Trump. She is linked to globalist groups like the Atlantic Council, CFR, and WEF.

▪️Government infiltration: Maher served on the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board in 2022-2024. Biden's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommended Signal for government use including by "highly targeted" officials in its 2024 guide.

▪️Signal, planted: Testifying before Congress, CIA Director John Radcliffe confirmed that Signal was installed on federal work devices before Team Trump took office. He emphasized it was an approved communication tool for non-classified content.

▪️A set-up? Some X users have speculated that rogue CIA agents manipulated Signal to add liberal Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg – known for his anti-Trump stance - to a government chat in order to frame Team Trump.

▪️'Disgruntled' CIA agents: CNN raised the alarm last month over potential leaks and other malicious moves by "disgruntled" CIA employees dissatisfied with the DOGE-led lay-offs and Trump policies.

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Trump could STRIP MILLIONS of Americans of their voting rights – report

The issue lies in an executive order he recently signed that requires voters in federal elections to present proof of citizenship, The Washington Post writes.

If implemented, the order would require people to present a passport, Real ID, military ID card, or some other government-issued ID that indicates US citizenship when registering to vote, as reported by the news outlet.

However:

🟠Several documents meet the Real ID requirements, including driver's licenses, but only those issued in five states have a citizenship mark.

🟠Half of the US population doesn’t possess a valid passport.

As a result, many Americans may either lose their right to vote or be forced to obtain new documents.

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❗️Russia sees an opportunity for collaboration on several Arctic projects, including with the US, which is already interested in investing – Russian special presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation

💬Moscow sees US interest in several Russian energy technologies, including liquefied natural gas production, Kirill Dmitriev said.

💬He added that Arab investors are also interested in participating in the Arctic development investment fund.

💬The Russian Direct Investment Fund will invest in the rare earth metals industry in the Arctic, and is currently reviewing three projects in Russia's Murmansk region, Dmitriev noted.

💬Russia could propose a small-scale nuclear power plant for Elon Musk's Mars mission, he concluded.

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🏦 Russia's international reserves have exceeded $650 billion for the first time, according to the Central Bank.

After the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries froze almost half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves, amounting to approximately €300 billion.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, noting that the EU is targeting not just private funds, but also Russian state assets.

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