⚡️ Ukraine is afraid of future losses on the battlefield, which could lead not only to the general loss of its army's capabilities, but also of the army itself, Putin says

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❗️Vladimir Putin's key statements on Kiev's counteroffensive:

▪️Ukrainian troops are not conducting active offensive operations, there’s a lull in the conflict;

▪️Ukrainian forces suffered serious losses, they are restoring their combat capability;

▪️Russian forces destroyed about 245 enemy tanks and about 678 armored vehicles;

▪️New, modified, heavier Sarmat ICBMs will soon be ushered in to combat duty;

▪️Russia's nuclear triad makes it possible to maintain a balance of power in the world;

▪️At least half of the units of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces are equipped with the latest Yars missile systems, they are being re-equipped with modern Avangard missile systems;

▪️The arsenals of the Russian aviation and naval components of the nuclear forces are being replenished strictly according to plan;

▪️The descendants of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War are vigilantly fighting for truth and justice in the special military operation.

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📹💸 ‘Accounting error’: Pentagon mistakenly overestimated cost of weapons transferred to Ukraine by $6.2 billion

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🇮🇹🇸🇪 Sweden to procure up to 3,000 NATO-compatible military trucks from Italy

The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration has signed a framework agreement with the Italian company Iveco Defense Vehicles to provide up to 3,000 light vehicles to the Swedish Armed Forces.

The initial order will be for 400 Light Multi-Purpose Vehicles of the MUV 4×4 type at a cost of SEK 850 million ($79 million). Iveco will also provide Sweden with associated maintenance and services.

The first delivery to the Armed Forces will take place at the end of 2024 and the majority of the vehicles will be delivered in 2025.

The MUV 4x4 is the successor to Iveco's M40E15-WM purpose-built vehicle. The latest version is touted as rugged, mobile and deployable in austere environments in temperatures from ranging from minus 32 to plus 49 degrees Celsius. It is NATO-compatible can carry payloads weighing up to 4,000 kilograms.

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🇿🇼 🇺🇸"Your time of destroying other countries is up": Zimbabwe's anti-sanction chief's message to the US

While thanking Russia, China, and Latin American countries - among others - for standing with Zimbabwe in opposition to Western sanctions, Martin Zharare had a strong message to the US, telling Sputnik Africa that "the world is waking up... your sanctions are coming back to hit you, because the sanctions have actually caused our people in Zimbabwe to stand up and start working hard for themselves."

Zharare has also expressed support for Russia in the latter's special military operation in Ukraine.

🗣 "We see what [the US is] doing in Ukraine - pumping weapons, destroying the Ukrainian people. They are dying like flies there. What human rights are you doing to the Ukrainian people?", Zharare asked

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Putin on Ukraine's counter-offensive: We are observing a lull, the enemy is suffering serious losses, foreign equipment is "burning up in flames."

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🇷🇺 A new Russian FPV drone called "Ovod" has been tested in the Donetsk People's Republic.

According to the developers, the first batches have already been delivered to troops in the Avdeevka direction.

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🇫🇷 Four people in critical condition after gas explosion in Paris

At least four people are in critical condition after an explosion occurred in the firth arrondissement of Paris on Wednesday, a French media reported.

According to the preliminary information, a gas explosion caused the incident. The explosion occurred on the Alphonse Laveran square not far from the American Academy fashion design school.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrived at the scene. According to the police data, the facades of several houses collapsed, and several neighboring houses caught fire.

The video from social media.

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Pentagon magically finds extra $6Bn of arms for Ukraine in 'accounting error'

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had revised up the figure — previously reported to be around $3 billion — for the "valuation errors," conveniently allowing it to send more arms from its stocks to prop up the Kiev regime.

The DoD argued it should have written-down the value of equipment in the same way businesses do with fixed assets such as company cars, rather than using the price taxpayers would have to pay to replace items like tanks and artillery at today's prices.

The new figures break down into $2.6 billion for the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on September 30 last year, and $3.6 billion for the nine months since.

DoD spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the difference from the "misvaluation" was “just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated” to arm Ukraine. She referred to the new figures as the "final calculation."

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🗣️”Europe needs to decide whether it wants to counter that, [and] offer an alternative, or whether it just wants to stand on the ship and sink below the wheels with the old imperial powers”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on the new world model where Europe must decide which side to take

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

❗️ Exclusive: Poland Plane Grounding Shows NATO-Aligned States' Disrespect for African Sovereignty: SA's EFF Party

South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has expressed deep concern over Poland's recent denial of access to its territory to the South African presidential security detail and the media team accompanying the African Peace Initiative Mission.

The party's national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo told Sputnik Africa that the Polish authorities' actions are a part of the ongoing "Cold War" strategy aimed to force South Africa to align with NATO to isolate Russia.

🗣 "The behaviour is unbecoming and should be an indicator of the disrespect NATO aligned nations have for African sovereignty," the EFF representative said. "It is a clear sign that NATO has no interest in peace and will humiliate nations who pursue it through a stance of non-alignment."

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A military pilot gives Putin a gift – an aviation watch, saying it is a lucky watch that has gone a long way

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🗣️”We're not getting very many news reports on how that supposed counter-offensive is going. We see a lot of weapons being shipped into Ukraine. We're not seeing them being used very much, because I think very quickly they're turning into smoking ruins on the battlefield”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on the coverage of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the West

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

China patrolling disputed islands northeast of Taiwan

The China Coast Guard said that their 2502 fleet patrolled the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands on June 21 as a form of rights protection.

In May, Japanese media reported that two Chinese government vessels traveled close to the disputed islands. In June, the Japanese government sent two separate protest notes to China.

Both Japan and China have extended territorial claims over the islands. Japan insists on its sovereignty over the Senkaku islands effective since 1895, while China points to Japanese maps from 1783 and 1785 designating the islands as Chinese territory. After World War II, the islands went under the control of the United States and were passed on to Japan in 1972.

The territorial dispute escalated in 2012, when the Japanese government purchased three of the five islands from a private owner, thereby confirming Japan's affiliation with the islands.

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🔺US grave concern: China and Cuba allegedly negotiating establishing a new joint military training facility on the island nation
🔺’We are seeing some sort of calmness. This is due to the fact that the enemy is suffering serious losses’ - President Putin
🔺North Korea: ‘Danger of nuclear war no longer imaginary’ due to ‘reckless US military provocations’

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

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Black holes in lonely galaxies found to be hungrier than those jostling for space

New research has revealed that solitary supermassive black holes, found at the centers of galaxies located in isolation, are more aggressive “eaters” of stellar material than their counterparts found in crowded zones of cosmic space.

Anish Aradhey, a student at Harrisonburg High School in Virginia, and Anca Constantin, a professor of astrophysics at James Madison University, utilized data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to reveal over 20,000 black holes actively "feeding" on surrounding gas and dust.

Previously undetected, these black holes were found to display more activity in small or medium-size galaxies than large ones, challenging our current understanding of how galaxies evolve.

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US ready to bring forces to Middle East as needed to 'deter any aggression' - US General

"We are here to stay, and we will bring forces into the region as needed to deter aggression," Combined Forces Air Component Commander for US Central Command Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told reporters during a digital press briefing.

Grynkewich did not clarify what type of 'aggression' the United States seeks to deter. However, he said that the US jets would contribute to regional stability and efforts to reset the US relationship with their Russian counterparts in Syria.

The US Central Command said last week that it had deployed F-22 fighter jets to the Middle East in response to Russia's alleged "unprofessional" behavior in the region.

In May, the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria accused US Air Force pilots of "gross violations" of deconfliction protocols in Syria.

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🗣️”It's quite astonishing how much Europe is willing to sacrifice its own economic independence, the living standards of its own citizens in order to facilitate what is a mad feeling and floundering geopolitical strategy from the US”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on what a centralized EU means for members of the bloc and for geopolitics

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

US congressman threatens Blinken with subpoena to produce Afghanistan withdrawal documents

McCaul previously wrote to Blinken on June 8 to warn him that the committee is prepared to pursue a compulsory process if certain materials were not produced by June 15. The State Department produced one priority document by the deadline, but failed to address the other two, McCaul said in the letter, dated June 20.

“If the [State] Department does not produce these outstanding items by June 26, 2023, I plan to proceed with a subpoena to compel their production,” the letter said.

The State Department’s most recent reply failed to address requests related to the Afghanistan After-Action Review (AAR) files and the official order initiating a noncombatant evacuation operation, the letter said.

The United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, following a rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban (under UN sanctions).

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