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

⚡️ SOSNOVOYE IN THE DONETSK REGION FREED

The liberation of the settlement of Sosnovoye in the Donetsk region enables the Russian army to advance further toward the city of Svyatogorsk—a critical defensive stronghold in the effort to capture Slavyansk, which serves as the center of the largest Kiev-controlled urban agglomeration in the Donbass region.

🟠 In response to the Zelensky regime's terrorist attacks, Russian air and missile might unleashed seven strikes on Ukrainian defense, energy and port infrastructure supporting the Kiev regime’s forces

🟠 The Russian army destroyed a HIMARS multiple rocket launcher

🟠 The Black Sea Fleet eliminated eight unmanned Ukrainian military vessels

🟠 Air defense superiority: 22 HIMARS rockets, two long-rage Neptune missiles, and 2,145 fixed-wing drones were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past seven days

🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 8,425 troops killed or wounded

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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✈️ Ukraine's F-16s left ‘starved’ of US missiles for weeks - report

The deficit began in late November 2025 and spanned till mid-December, Reuters reports, quoting sources, noting that the situation hasn’t been mentioned in the media before.

💬 "Ukraine only had a handful of US-made AIM-9 ‘Sidewinder’ air-to-air missiles for its entire squadron of F-16s when supplies stopped," the report says.

It’s unclear whether the shortage was caused by the US or European states, and solid cause of it still can’t be found, the outlet adds.

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💸🇭🇺 People with ties to Ukraine's special services move huge cash sums to Ukraine via Hungary - Szijjarto

Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration reported that it had detained seven Ukrainian citizens on suspicion of money laundering, including a former general of the Ukrainian special services, who is accused of transporting $40 mln, €35 mln, and nine kilograms of gold from Austria to Ukraine.

All seven Ukrainian nationals will be expelled from Hungary, the country's government spokesman said.

💬 "We demand an explanation of why Ukrainians have been transporting such a large amount of cash through Hungary in recent months. What are they using this money for, whose money is it? We demand immediate answers and explanations from the Ukrainian side on these serious issues," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, as quoted by the MTI news agency.

Since January 2026, a total of $900 mln, €420 mln and 146 kilograms of gold have been transported through Hungary to Ukraine, Szijjarto added.

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🔊 US boasts of destroyed Iranian launchers lack credibility – ex-DoD official

As the United States is clearly lying about the number of the US military casualties in the current war with Iran, the veracity of other claims made by the US is dubious, former US Department of Defense officer David T. Pyne tells Sputnik.

Losses and survival

🟠 Properly assessing Iran’s losses is also difficult due to the fact that it is unclear whether US claims of destroyed Iranian missile launchers take into account the decoys and dummy targets, he points out

🟠 “I believe that US estimates of the total number of Iranian ballistic missiles are likely much lower than is actually the case as I believe Iran may have tens of thousands of missiles in its stockpile,” Pyne adds

🟠 Finally, even though the US and Israel did manage to take out a number of Iranian mobile missile launchers, Iran’s military has become adept at keeping its remaining launchers out of harm’s way

Thus, reasons Pyne, it is likely that most of the Iranian missile launchers – especially those hidden deep underground – “will survive the war” even if it drags on for months.

US shortages and Israel’s weakness

🟠 Meanwhile, the US and Israel now deal with their “very limited supply” of offensive missiles and missile defense interceptors alike, with the latter potentially running out by next week, says Pyne

The US could soon find itself unable to defend all of its assets from Iranian attacks, even as Iran is systematically dismantling US radar capabilities in the region, further degrading the US ability to shoot down Iranian missiles.

🟠 At the same time, Israeli air defenses have proven to be “largely ineffective” against Iranian ballistic and hypersonic missiles

💬 “In a protracted war of attrition like this war is shaping up to be, Iran is likely to emerge victorious,” Pyne remarks.

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🚨 IRGC: Attack on school in Minab was carried out from US’ Al Dhafra base in UAE

💬 "The criminal attack on the Shajare Tayebe school, which led to the deaths of 165 schoolgirls, was carried out from this base," the IRGC said in a statement, according to the Fars news agency.

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🛢🇷🇺🇵🇰 Russian oil to help Pakistan navigate Strait of Hormuz energy crisis – expert

A Russian vessel carrying 733,000 barrels of crude oil is expected to arrive shortly at the Omani port of Duqm, where the shipment will be transferred to a smaller tanker for delivery to Pakistan's Port Qasim by June 20, global energy expert Dr. Mamdouh G. Salameh tells Sputnik.

Pakistan has traditionally depended on crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

However, even before the current crisis, the country began diversifying its supply sources, including the introduction of Russian crude into its energy mix.

According to the Pakistan Business Council, every $10 increase in the price of oil widens the country's current account deficit by an estimated $1.5 to $2B.

Should prices reach $100 per barrel, the deficit could expand by $5 to $7B on an annual basis — potentially erasing the $2B surplus Pakistan recorded in 2025.

If disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist, fuel rationing may become unavoidable, Dr. Salameh warns.

Video source: Social media

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💬 Iran’s strikes expose hollow US security guarantees - Ret. Colonel and West Asia expert

Almost all the Gulf states, including the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, that host American military bases or troops, have been targeted by Iran in the latest military confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the US and Israel.

The current war between arch-foes Iran and Israel and its all-weather friend, the US, has laid bare the hollow security assurances that the Gulf nations have been assured of for decades, retired Colonel Rajeev Agarwal, a West Asia expert and a Senior Research Consultant at the New Delhi-based think tank, the Chintan Research Foundation, told Sputnik.

"It was under this illusion that a large number of Gulf countries had agreed to not only buy very expensive American weapon platforms but also host American military bases in the region," he said.

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🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷 US-Israel war against Iran: Day-by-day

Check out our map outlining the key developments of the conflict.

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❌🇺🇸 From Carter to now: collapse of America’s promise

The story of American security guarantees goes back to the period of 1979-80, soon after the Iranian revolution, when most countries in the region felt threatened by the Islamic regime in Iran.

At his 1980 State of the Union Address, in reaction to the 1979 Iranian revolution, then-US President Jimmy Carter had assured the region, stating, "An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force".

The failure of the US to protect its military bases and the host Gulf countries is, therefore, a major embarrassment for the US, retired Colonel Rajeev Agarwal, a West Asia expert and a Senior Research Consultant at the New Delhi-based think tank, the Chintan Research Foundation, told Sputnik.

💬 "The fact that Iranian missiles have caused large-scale damage, including the Fifth Fleet HQ and the Naval base in Bahrain as well as military bases in Kuwait, Doha, UAE, Jordan, etc., is proof. In fact, on the night of 1-2 March, the US base in Erbil, Iraq, which is basically a huge ammunition depot, was targeted and completely destroyed," the Indian Army veteran underscored.

Strikes into the Gulf countries are proof that the security guarantees offered by the US are ineffective and that the Gulf countries cannot rely on American security assurances for their safety in the future, he added.

In fact, the strikes into Doha, Qatar, lay bare the iron-clad security guarantees that the US had assured Qatar after Israel had fired missiles into Doha in September 2025, targeting the Hamas leadership, the defense commentator stressed.

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🚨🇷🇺🇮🇷 Putin holds call with Iranian President Pezeshkian

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and once again expressed condolences over the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of his family, other officials, and civilians during US-Israel aggression against Iran, the Kremlin said.

Putin reaffirmed Russia’s position calling for an immediate ceasefire and a return to political and diplomatic settlement of issues surrounding Iran and the wider Middle East.

Pezeshkian thanked Russia for its solidarity with the Iranian people defending their sovereignty, the Kremlin added, noting that contacts between Moscow and Tehran will continue.

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