🇺🇸 A group of US House and Senate Republicans have opposed a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would allow Washington to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine in aid, American newspaper reported on Friday, citing people involved with the negotiations.

▪️ According to the report, Republican staffers claim that the provision has not been "fully litigated" and questioned the effectiveness of the proposed measure. Moreover, Republicans believe that the provision should be reviewed by the US House and Senate judiciary committees.

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🇺🇸 Persistent shortages of parts and personnel will continue “to dog” the Pentagon’s top four defense contractors over the next two years as they currently deal with orders related to Washington’s ongoing security aid to Kiev amid Russia’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, a UK media outlet has reported, citing the companies’ chief executive officers (CEOs).

▪️ Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies have been grappling with “snarled supplies” since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, something that is currently being worsened by “widespread cost inflation.”

▪️ Earlier this week, former Pentagon official Wesley Hallman told Sputnik that Washington’s push for sending military assistance to Kiev is stressing the US defense industry's ability to replenish its stockpiles.

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⚡️Ukrainian troops attempt to land near Zaporozhye NPP, retreat after suffering heavy losses, local authorities say

🇨🇳 🇺🇸 The Biden administration's new National Defense Strategy effectively declares economic and technological war against China, but Beijing will certainly react against it, analysts told Sputnik.

Check out our latest article dedicated to the topic

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❗️The gunman who assassinated 15 people at a major Shiite holy site in southern Iran earlier this week died in a hospital in the southern city of Shiraz on Saturday from injuries sustained during his arrest on Saturday, Iranian media reported.

The attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State group* but Iran's government has sought to blame it on the protests roiling the country.

*under UN sanctions for terrorist activities

🇷🇺 📹 Russia’s MoD has revealed footage showing the training of the armored crewmen of the Western Military District on T-72B3 and T-80U tanks

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📹 Have a look at the sense of humor of the US President, the leader of a nation with more than 330 million people, when he was faking an attempt to jump off a stage into the crowd during a speech in Pennsylvania

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🇷🇺 🇦🇲 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Saturday that he is ready to sign a document on extension of Russian peacekeepers mandate in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh for 10-20 years at the upcoming meeting with Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev respectively, on Monday in Sochi.

🗣 "I officially declare that I am ready to sign a document in Sochi so that the representation of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh is unconditionally ensured for 10, 15, 20 years. I propose that the Russian president make this proposal, if necessary, I will make such a proposal. But Russia must support this proposal since I cannot determine the terms of the stay of the Russian peacekeepers, this is a trilateral document, and if we and Russia agree, we will be the majority," Pashinyan said, adding that Russia, as a mediator, can present this project.

▪️ Russia brokered a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan and deployed its peacekeepers to the region following a short conflict between Baku and Yerevan over a decades-long territorial dispute in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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❗️ Ukraine Armed Forces used nine air and seven sea drones in the attack on Sevastopol - Russian Defense Ministry.

As a result of the measures taken by the forces of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, all air targets were destroyed.

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🥴Another attempt at ‘humor’ by the US President leaving people wonder what he'd hoped to express

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👀 Russia is closely monitoring the development of US doctrinal documents and is concerned over their "vague wording" as well as over an increase in the number of possible scenarios that allow the use of nuclear weapons, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik on Saturday.

▪️ On Thursday, the US Defense Department published the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and noted the document reaffirms that the fundamental role of US nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack on the United States, its allies and partners.

▪️ According to the NPR, the US would only consider using nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances to defend its vital interests and that of its allies and partners.

🗣 "I can say that we are monitoring very closely, both militarily and politically, the development of the strategies of the Western nuclear countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. We are also monitoring what is happening with the means of delivery and with these weapons," Grushko said.

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❗️ Russia’s MoD latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ Near Kupyansk, two reinforced companies of Ukrainian troops and a unit of foreign mercenaries were defeated.

▪️ The Russian Army destroyed two HIMARS systems in the Kharkov region with a missile strike

▪️ On Saturday, after negotiations, 50 Russian soldiers were returned from the territory controlled by Kiev, who were in mortal danger in captivity.

▪️ More than 60 Ukrainian servicemen, 17 combat armored vehicles and 12 vehicles were destroyed along the Nikolaev-Krivoy Rog axis.

▪️ Artillery and aviation destroyed 70 Ukrainian military during an attack in the LPR.

▪️ In the Nikolaev region, a UAF MiG-29 was shot down.

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📹Russia's Ministry of Defense has published footage showing how Russian Lancet UAVs destroy Ukrainian M777 howitzers and a Buk M-1 anti-aircraft system.

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⚡️Moscow will draw the attention of the world community, including the UN Security Council, to the terrorist attacks in the Black and Baltic seas, as well as the UK's involvement in them, the Russian Foreign Ministry says

🗣 Sputnik discussed the state of Moscow-Washington relations with Joe Siracusa, US politics expert and Professor of History and Diplomacy at Curtin University, Australia, who shared his view on the deeply-rooted anti-Russia sentiment among the American establishment and explained what the prospects are for a meaningful dialogue between the two nations.

👉 Check it out!

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👻Mysterious

🔭The James Webb Space Telescope captured the image of the dark side of the ethereal Pillars of Creation, located 6.500 light-years away in the Eagle Nebula.

The image resembles a twisted snarl of ghostly figures leaping out across the cosmos. The stars are hidden by the dust, but some of them pierce through the darkness in red light.

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⚡️Russia suspends participation in the grain deal, the Russian Defense Ministry says

The decision comes after the Kiev regime with the participation of UK specialists committed terrorist attacks against the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels

⚡️An air alert has been declared in all regions of Ukraine, local media reports

⚡️Russia is working on practical steps in connection with the involvement of UK specialists in the preparation of a terrorist attack in the Black Sea, the Russian Foreign Ministry says