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📊Anti-Russia sanctions push average EU gas prices up 150%

The price of gas for the European Union has increased 2.5-fold since the introduction of large-scale sanctions against Russia — in just four years.

From 2021 to 2025, it has increased twice as much as in the previous 20 years, according to Sputnik's calculations based on Eurostat data.

🟠Thus, in April 2021, the average price of a thousand cubic meters of gas for the EU was 206 euros, and it rose to 523.5 euros in April of this year.

🟠Over the previous four years, the increase in the price of this type of fuel in the EU was only 1.7%: in April 2017, a thousand cubic meters could be purchased for only 202.5 euros. Twenty years ago, in mid-spring 2000, a thousand cubic meters cost the EU 123.9 euros.

Reason? The EU's reorientation towards LNG amid sanctions against Russia.

🟠In 2021, LNG accounted for only a third of all purchases by the union, but in 2025 it was already just slightly less than half.

🟠The price of importing this type of fuel over the past four years has increased to 645.5 euros from 257 euros.

🟠The price of pipeline gas is still lower than liquefied gas — 417 euros. In 2021 the EU bought a thousand cubic meters of pipeline gas for only 178.7 euros.

Bottom line: EU spending on gas in April 2025 increased to 8.05 billion euros from 3.5 billion four years earlier, despite the fact that import volumes decreased by 8.5% to 15.4 billion cubic meters.

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🗣West will never defeat Russia using Ukraine as a battering ram - Lavrov

The West has never been able to, and will never be able to, deliver a strategic defeat to Russia by using the Kiev regime as a battering ram, Russian FM Lavrov said at the meeting with his Kyrgyzstan's counterpart Jeenbek Kulubaev.

🔊The West won't succeed this time either, they're starting to realize that, the Russian top diplomat said.

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🔍Self-inflicted pain? Graham’s Russia sanctions could backfire on America

War hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham*’s new sanctions bill isn’t just unworkable – it’s self-destructive, warns The Washington Post.

The bill calls for a 500% tariff on any country that buys Russian oil, gas, uranium, or petrochemicals – in other words, most of the non-Western world and a good chunk of America’s own allies.

This is the geopolitical equivalent of “cutting off America’s nose to spite Putin’s face,” the outlet warns.

👉Here’s what the bill ignores:
🟠Even the United States still imports enriched uranium from Russia – 12% of total US deliveries in 2023.
🟠The EU spent $23B on Russian fossil fuels in 2024, more than the $19B it gave Ukraine in aid (per the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air)
🟠India is the second-largest buyer of Russian crude after China.
🟠NATO member Turkiye and the EU tie for third place.
🟠Brazil is the third-largest buyer of Russian oil products.
🟠South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan rely on Russian LNG and coal.

If passed in its current form, Graham's bill would:
🟠Spark a massive trade war with virtually every major US trading partner.
🟠Damage ties with Europe, Asia, and Latin America
🟠Undermine US credibility, especially since America itself is still buying Russian uranium.

Graham is already backpedaling. He’s suggested “carve-outs” for countries that support Ukraine.

When war hawks flinch, you know it’s gone too far...

*recognized as a terrorist in Russia

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🇮🇷📹Funeral of IRGC Lieutenant General Ali Shadmani is being held in the Iranian city of Hamadan

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🗣Trump to Israeli prosecutors: 'Back off Bibi'

The president decried Netanyahu's corruption trial as "insanity" on Truth Social, lionizing the embattled leader while turning a blind eye to civilian deaths from Israel's military operations.

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🗣West will never defeat Russia using Ukraine as a battering ram - Lavrov The West has never been able to, and will never be able to, deliver a strategic defeat to Russia by using the Kiev regime as a battering ram, Russian FM Lavrov said at the meeting with…
🔍Key outcomes of Sergey Lavrov's meeting with Kyrgyzstan's FM Jeenbek Kulubaev:

🔸Lavrov accused French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of lacking commonsense and attempting to control Europe.

🔸Russia is open to sincere efforts to end the crisis in Ukraine, while Europe is trying to cheat, he said. Lavrov also thanked Kyrgyzstan for its position on Ukraine.

🔸Iran was one of the topics discussed during the talks.

🔸Kyrgyzstan expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the CSTO summit in fall, Kulubaev said.

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🚨🇷🇺RUSSIA LAUNCHES MASSIVE NIGHT STRIKE: Kinzhal hypersonic missiles hit Ukraine hard

ALL TARGETS DESTROYED – the Russian Defense Ministry announces success in overnight attack on:

🟠 Ukrainian weapons factories
🟠 Critical oil refineries

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🚨Russian Intel Chief holds phone call with CIA Director

Sergey Naryshkin, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), announced that he held a telephone conversation with CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

"I had a phone call with my American counterpart, and we agreed to keep the line open for further contact at any time to discuss matters of concern," Naryshkin said.


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🚨WATCH: Lavrov LAMBASTS Macron, Merz, saying they lack common sense

Lavrov commented on Merz and Macron's op-ed for the FT, in which the two said that "the main source of instability for Europe comes from Russia" and called on Europe to arm itself.

"I believe that these quotes alone are enough for a person who has some understanding of what is happening in Europe and follows events to understand that these people have completely lost common sense and are openly trying to return to the days when France and Germany wanted to conquer Europe, primarily the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union," Lavrov said.


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🚨🇷🇺RUSSIA LAUNCHES MASSIVE NIGHT STRIKE: Kinzhal hypersonic missiles hit Ukraine hard ALL TARGETS DESTROYED – the Russian Defense Ministry announces success in overnight attack on: 🟠 Ukrainian weapons factories 🟠 Critical oil refineries 📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇷🇺🪖 RUSSIAN DEFENSE BRIEFING: CRUCIAL STRIKES & ENEMY LOSSES

🔸 The Russian army carried out a group strike on military facilities in Ukraine overnight using Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

🔸 Heavy Ukrainian losses: Over 1,235 troops eliminated in the special military operation zone.

🔸 Air defense superiority: a long-range "Neptun" missile and 102 drones shot down.

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🚨Another of Ukraine’s F-16s bites the dust

Ukraine has lost yet another West-supplied F-16 during a major clash with Russian forces. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, first-class pilot Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko was unable to eject.

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🚨💥 Ukraine's forces ditch damaged Polish Oncilla APC near Kupyansk PANICKING OVER Russian drones

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🇨🇳China claps back: No US trade deals that sacrifice its interests

China will retaliate if other countries strike trade deals with the US that undermine its interests for so-called tariff cuts, the country’s Ministry of Commerce said.

🇺🇸Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” on global partners were pilloried as a classic case of unilateral “bullying” that’s wrecking the international trade system.

The US president is racing to meet a July 8 deadline for trade agreements.

➡️So far, only the UK and China deals have been announced, with Trump hinting at one with India in the pipeline.

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🇮🇷💥🇺🇸Iran fires back at Trump: ‘unrespectable gambler politician’ won't shake our resolve

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has slammed the US president’s hostile and deranged rhetoric, saying it was nothing but a desperate psy-op to spread fear and chaos.

Qalibaf warned the "unrespectable president of the United States" and Iran’s other enemies that its people will never back down in defending their homeland—while “traitors and mercenaries” will be tossed into the "dustbin of history."

🔊The fiery response comes after Trump’s latest unhinged rant, where he claimed he “saved” Supreme Leader Khamenei’s life — and complained about not getting a “thank-you” in return.

Trump has also threatened to resume bombing Iran – over nuclear claims neither the US nor Israel have proven to the world with any measure of credibility.

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🚨Gunmen who attacked Crocus City Hall admit that Ukraine organized attack

The gunmen who killed at least 147 people in a gun and arson attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow in March 2024 admitted that Ukraine was behind the terrorist attack, the testimony seen by Sputnik reads.

"The members of the extremist [Wilayat] Khorasan movement [the Afghan branch of the Islamic State terrorist group, banned in Russia] were only the masterminds acting at the request of a state agency in Ukraine, which was eventually confirmed by Sayfullo [the recruiter]," one of the suspects said in the testimony.


Murodali Rachabalizoda, another suspect, stated that Ukraine and Khorasan were the organizers of the terrorist attack.

"Sayfullo ... urged to help Ukraine, since Ukraine is at war with Russia ... We discussed this later with [Shamsidin] Fariduni, because we understood that initially Sayfullo was deceiving us, saying that we would commit this terrorist attack solely in the interests of faith, in the interests of Muslims. When we realized that we were the executors of Ukraine's order, we decided not to abandon the terrorist attack, as Sayfullo offered us a lot of money," the testimony read.


After the attack, the gunmen planned to flee to Kiev, where each of them was promised 1 million rubles ($12,743). Ukrainians also provided the attackers with weapons.

"Due to the fact that the state structure of Ukraine was the organizer of this terrorist attack, the weapons came to Moscow from the territory of Ukraine. This was easier than from some other countries, such as Turkiye or Afghanistan, where our handlers were located. In addition, we had a Makarov pistol-type gun and four knives, one for each," the testimony read.


➡️On March 22, 2024, several armed men broke into the concert hall. They opened fire at the crowd and set the auditorium on fire, killing at least 147 people and injuring more than 500 others. Three people remain unaccounted for.

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🇭🇺🔊'False promises, grave consequences': Hungary's PM Orban slams EU policy on Ukraine

"They dressed uncontrolled migration as 'Willkommenskultur' (welcoming culture) and vilified us for saying no. Now they echo our words, proving we were the forerunners of common sense. The Ukraine issue is heading the same way: false promises, grave consequences. We cannot allow Brusselian bureaucrats to lead Europe off a cliff again!" Orban wrote on X.


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💬 Grossi worked hand in glove with Israel against Iran, MUST be ousted: Scott Ritter

There’s simply no logical explanation for Grossi and his IAEA colleagues’ meetings with Israeli officials except that they were passing on intelligence about Iran’s nuclear activities, the former UN weapons inspector and US Marine Corps intelligence officer told PressTV.

🔍This intel was “used to target locations on the ground and to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists – to murder Iranian nuclear scientists. So Grossi has the blood of Iran’s nuclear scientists on his hands, Ritter emphasized.

🔊Grossi should not only be barred from Iran for good, but ousted from his job, and a new inspection regime set up that provides Iran iron-clad guarantees that sensitive info about Iran’s nuclear program won’t be passed on to its enemies, Ritter said.

Ritter also highlighted the IAEA’s hypocrisy, pointing out that while Iran’s NPT status gives it the right to pursue peaceful nuclear enrichment, Israel has an illegal alleged undeclared nuclear arsenal which the nuclear watchdog simply pretends doesn’t exist.

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🇫🇷 Protesters in Paris slam Macron over Ukraine policy

A rally demanding an end to the Ukraine conflict and a halt to Western arms deliveries to Kiev took place in central Paris, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

Protesters also called on France to leave NATO and demanded President Macron’s resignation.

Organized by Florian Philippot, founder of The Patriots party, the protest drew several hundred participants.

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🇮🇷🪖Iran used 'less than 5%' of its military capability in 12-day war with Israel – commander

Iran’s true defensive might remains hidden, IRGC brigadier general Mohammad-Reza Naghdi has revealed.

Less than 5% of its forces were activated (i.e. engaged with the enemy) in recent clashes with Israel, according to the IRGC deputy commander for coordination.

The results?

Hypersonic & ballistic missiles crippled Israeli military bases, intel hubs, and research centers

Air defenses shredded dozens of Israeli jets and drones in the course of the air war over Iran

Israel’s 12-day assault backfired badly—exposing its much-touted air defenses’ weaknesses against Iran’s missile fire power, and the limits of its strike capabilities.

IDF sources admitted to Israeli media this week that Iran had 20% more missiles than previously estimated (2,500 vs 2,000), and said the country was on course to amassing over 10,000 by 2028.

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🇭🇺Hungary’s Paks 2 Nuclear Power Plant project fires up as US scraps sanctions

The Trump administration has axed sanctions blocking investment in the Paks 2 plant, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced.

Sanctions slapped on Russia by the Biden team in late 2024 had made the facility’s expansion all but impossible.

🟠 Paks II and Russia's role

🟠The Paks II expansion is a $13.7 billion project to add two VVER-1200 reactors to Hungary’s existing Soviet-built plant
🟠The plant was built by Russia’s Rosatom.
🟠Hungary had secured an EU exemption from Russia sanctions for Paks II.
🟠However, sanctions targeted Gazprombank (handling Paks II financing) and Rosatom executives, delaying payments to subcontractors and stalling progress

🟠 Sanctions-induced fallout

🔹Critical supply disruptions to a project meant to deliver an additional 2.4 GW of capacity – vital to Hungary’s push to raise nuclear power's share in its energy mix from 33% to 70%.
🔹Top EU firms like Germany’s Siemens Energy and France’s Framatome had their planned contributions to the plant’s control systems sidelined.

🟠 USAID smear campaign

When the US froze USAID funds, many Hungarian groups critical of the Paks II project lost their cash flow, according to nuclear expert Zsolt Harfas.

Radio Free Europe*, then funded by US grants, pushed false anti-Paks stories, casting doubt on its necessity and Russia’s Rosatom tech – while cozying up to the struggling US nuclear industry.

*Designated as a foreign agent in Russia

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