🔶 Moldovan elections: Key updates at this hour

🔶 Fico: hands off our energy

🔶 Ukraine plan to throw radicals into Kupyansk meat grinder

🔶 Lavrov is 'defender of weaker nations'

🔶 After pushback on Orwellian digital ID scheme, Starmer labels Reform opponents ‘racist’

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🇲🇩 Moldovan opposition to challenge election results

🔊 Opposition forces will not recognize the results of the recent parliamentary elections and plan to legally challenge them, opposition leader Ilan Shor has announced.

👉 Shor stated that up to 20% of Moldovan voters were intimidated and prevented from voting.

The opposition bloc “Pobeda" (Victory) will urge Moldovans to take to the streets following the elections, bloc leader Ilan Shor added.

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👉US envoy signals green light for Ukraine long-range strikes?

🔊 When specifically asked on Fox News if Ukraine has US authority to use long-range weapons for strikes into Russia, General Keith Kellogg first said that “it’s mixed.”

But then added:

“Reading what he [Trump] has said, and reading what Vice President Vance has said as well as Secretary Rubio, the answer is yes. Use the ability to hit deep. There are no such things as sanctuaries," said Trump’s Special Envoy for Ukraine.

🟠 Russia previously warned that Western long-range weapons are already being used to target civilians and disrupt peace efforts, with President Vladimir Putin emphasizing the potential shift in the conflict if NATO becomes directly involved.

⚔️ At the same time, Russia’s air defenses, including S-400, S-300V/4, BUK-M2, and Pantsir, are well-equipped to counter any such threat.

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🚨Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans barred from voting

Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans were deprived the opportunity to vote in Russian territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the recent parliamentary elections in the republic.

👉As for assessments of these elections, they can be given later, once Moldova’s own political forces evaluate them, the Russian presidential spokesman added.

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🇪🇺 EU-style democracy: Heads I win, tails you lose

💬 "Thanks to billions from the EU (our money), constant meddling from Eurocrats (plus massive fraud…), the Euro-gagas “won” the parliamentary elections in Moldova yesterday!" French Patriots party leader Florian Philippot writes.

He recalls Moldovan "Europhile" President Maia Sandu's announcement that the elections would have been canceled if her party had lost.

💬 "What a joke! [...] The masks are off: their time is almost up!" Philippot concludes.

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📹🔥 Chisinau opposition protesters remove provocateurs chanting Ukrainian slogan

Protesters at the Moldovan opposition rally in Chisinau who chanted A Ukrainian nationalist slogan* were removed from the demonstration, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

👉 The incident occurred during an opposition protest where participants maintained order by ejecting provocateurs attempting to escalate tensions.

*The slogan was designated as extremist by Russian authorities in January 2024

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

⚡️ SHANDRIGOLOVO IN DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC LIBERATED

The settlement of Shandrigilovo was liberated as a result of our troops' advance along the highway from the direction of the Green Valley of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The liberation of Shandrigilovo allows Russian forces to advance towards the western borders of the Lugansk People’s Republic.

◻️ Russian Armed Forces struck an aviation repair facility and temporary bases of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

◻️ Air defense superiority: four HIMARS missiles and three long-range Neptune missiles shot down

◻️ Ukrainian losses: 1,570 troops killed or wounded

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🇲🇩🔥 'Victory will be ours' - Ex-president of Moldova

🗣 The authorities are celebrating too early, as the people are dissatisfied and unafraid, former Moldovan president and one of the leaders of the Patriotic Bloc Igor Dodon said.

During the protests, the politician also noted that the current Moldovan authorities have intimidated people, which kept some from going to the polls, but added that “many hate PAS.”

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🚨🇲🇩Tight race in Moldova: Opposition 49.8%, PAS 50.2%

In Sunday’s parliamentary elections, opposition forces, including the Patriotic Bloc, secured 49.8% of the vote.

Ruling PAS scraped by with 50.2% — only thanks to ballots from abroad, according to the CEC after counting 100% of protocols.

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⚔️ Kremlin poses questions on deployment of US Tomahawks in Ukraine

Russia is aware of and is analyzing statements from US officials regarding the potential supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, calling the matter "very serious," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

🗣 The Kremlin official said that Russia’s response would be determined only after a clear understanding of the "potential threats" and "who will be involved in the process."

Peskov raised key questions like who would launch the missiles — Ukrainian or US personnel — and who would provide the targeting data?

💬 “The question remains: who can launch these missiles if they end up on the territory of the Kiev regime? Can Ukrainians do it alone, or would American military personnel be required? Who provides the targeting — the Americans or the Ukrainians themselves?” Peskov asked.

Despite the potential new capability, Peskov dismissed the idea that any single weapon could change the situation on the front lines for Ukraine, stating, "There is no panacea... no magic weapon."

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🇲🇩❌Transnistria voters BLOCKED from voting - Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe admits

Observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe admitted that voters from Transnistria faced obstacles that prevented them from reaching polling stations.

Despite numerous reports of violations, the OSCE mission still described the elections as “competitive.”

👉 Yet, the same report flagged several CEC decisions that raise serious doubts about its impartiality.

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🇲🇩 'Pyrrhic Victory': Dodon on PAS’s narrow edge in elections

🙅 Most Moldovans in the country are “categorically dissatisfied” with the results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, former President Igor Dodon tells Sputnik.

"Inside the country, the opposition — all opposition parties that entered parliament — received more votes than the current Moldovan authorities,” the leader of the Party of Socialists within The Patriotic Electoral Bloc says.

He notes that the opposition recorded dozens of violations which could be divided into several groups:

🔸 Use of administrative resources by Maia Sandu's government

🔸 Voting restrictions for residents of Transnistria

🔸 False bomb threats at polling stations in Moldova and abroad

The opposition has officially appealed to the CEC.

Dodon stresses the vote cannot be recognized as legitimate. He also notes Europe’s political role:

“The Western diaspora and EU leaders tipped the balance in favor of PAS. But this is a Pyrrhic victory that will bring serious problems in the coming months.”

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🇲🇩 Sandu clawed out victory by dishonest means - expert

🗣 Maia Sandu’s victory was achieved through “countless and blatant violations,” Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, senior fellow at IMEMO RAS, tells Spuntik commenting on Sunday's parliamentary elections in Moldova.

✍️ According to him, “it was clear to everyone that Sandu would usurp power by any means. One party was even removed from the race on election day itself, allegedly due to questionable financing.”

He noted that residents of Transnistria with Moldovan passports were prevented from voting: “Bridges across the Dniester were blocked under the guise of roadworks, and in all of Russia, where hundreds of thousands of Moldovans live, only two polling stations were opened.”

📈 With just over 50% of the vote, PAS may now secure 55 of 101 seats in parliament thanks to the electoral system. But, Ofitserov-Belsky stressed, this result does not reflect genuine support: “Sandu is not an independent politician. Her power rests almost entirely on European backing, which makes her fully dependent on Brussels.”

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🗣 US & EU 'deceitful in politics,' always violate commitments - Prof. Marandi

"They are dishonest and deceitful in politics, whether it's with regard to Russia or whether it's with regard to China or Iran or any other major powers across the world. They simply use politics in order to preserve their hegemony," Iranian professor Mohammad Marandi told Sputnik, adding that the EU’s reimposed sanctions only confirm what was clear back in 2015.

👉 He recalled how during indirect talks, the US and Israel conspired to strike Iran — even targeting officials in their homes — while the West collectively supported it.

💬 Marandi stressed this will only push Iran further toward BRICS, SCO, and the Global South, as Western hegemony crumbles under its own hypocrisy.

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📹 Russian MoD releases footage of Shandrigolovo's liberation

The operation combined artillery and drone strikes to destroy Ukrainian equipment and positions, followed by assault troops clearing the area.

Russian flags were raised over the liberated town.

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🇺🇸🤝🇮🇱 Trump meets Netanyahu at the White House

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House to meet President Donald Trump — the leaders greet each other with a handshake ahead of talks on Gaza.

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🚨Trump, after greeting Netanyahu at the White House, said he is “confident” about achieving peace.

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🇺🇸🇶🇦Trump met Qatar’s Emir before Netanyahu talks

President Donald Trump met Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani ahead of Israeli PM Netanyahu’s White House visit, CNN reports.

Qatar has been central to Gaza ceasefire talks, despite setbacks after Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha.

The move ties into Trump’s 21-point Gaza peace plan, as the White House pushes Netanyahu toward a deal.

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