🐦 Mark Zuckerberg tweeted on Wednesday for the first time in 11 years, following the official launch of his new text messaging app, Threads, purportedly designed to rival Elon Musk's Twitter.

By the way, Sputnik is already on Threads, let's see how Zuck's new app is different from Twitter: threads.net/@sputnik_news

❗️ Fourty-five Russian soldiers were returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime today following a process of negotiation, the Russian Defense Ministry said

📹 Russian Aerospace Forces and Syrian Air Force hold the first stage of joint exercises

The exercise will continue until the middle of July.

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📹 The Russian Armed Forces launched a concentrated strike at sites of temporary deployment of military personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries, as well as at storage sites of Western armored vehicles in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said

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❗️Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ At night, the Russian Armed Forces attacked the points of temporary deployment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and foreign mercenaries with high-precision weapons, the reserves suffered significant damage;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repulsed nine attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk direction in a day. Losses of the Ukrainian army amounted to 385 soldiers;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces hit the control posts of the 118th Territorial Defense Brigade, the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 4th National Guard Brigade in the DPR;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled four attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Krasny Liman. The actions of two sabotage and reconnaissance groups were also suppressed. The losses of Ukraine amounted to more than 90 servicemen.

▪️ Russian troops destroyed up to 130 Ukrainian soldiers and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer in the Kherson region;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces hit the command posts of three Ukrainian brigades in the DPR;

▪️ The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 165 soldiers killed in the south of the DPR and in the Zaporozhye region, and three armored vehicles, including the Stryker armored personnel carrier;

▪️ Russian air defenses shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft in the DPR, four Storm Shadow missiles and four HIMARS MLRS shells were intercepted;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed up to 40 military personnel and the M777 artillery system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces along Kupyansky;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Novoselovsky area in the LPR.

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We'd like to draw your attention to a growing English-language news channel specializing in coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Be sure to follow/subscribe for updates!

Subscribe using the link here:

https://t.iss.one/ukraine_watch

❗️ US supplying cluster munitions to Kiev would be another step toward escalation, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said

🇨🇦 Although the Canadian PM claims he has been keeping #Khalistan supporters in check, the reality on the ground speaks for itself:

#Hindu temples in Canada are defaced by pro-Khalistan vandals, while ethnic Indians are attacked in broad daylight.

So what is the #Trudeau government doing? To save your time, the answer is nothing.

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🇱🇾 Libya plans to increase oil production by 2 million barrels per day in a three-to-five years term, Libyan Oil and Gas Minister Mohamed Oun told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"The Libyan Government of National Accord has allocated significant sums to increase [oil] production from 1.2 million barrels [per day] — this is what is being produced now — to 2 million barrels [per day]," Oun said on the sidelines of the OPEC International Seminar in Vienna.

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🇺🇸 US President Joe Biden's Democratic administration prosecutes civil society representatives for alternative opinions and, basically, wages war against society by using security forces, Russian anti-globalization activist Alexander Ionov said on Thursday.

"Today, in fact, Biden unleashed a war against civil society at the hands of his security officials," Ionov, the president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, said.

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🇨🇴 The government of Colombia on Wednesday issued a decree for a temporary ceasefire with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, which will be in effect from August to January, according to the text of the decree.

The 180-day ceasefire was reached by the government of Colombia and the ELN in early June during talks in Cuba.

The radical left ELN consists of several thousand people and is the second largest armed rebel organization in Colombia after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

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🇷🇺 The Russian military captured almost an entire British Storm Shadow cruise missile at the front line, former Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik. The missile will be studied by specialists.

🇨🇳 China has expressed concern over reports that the United States plans to sent a nuclear submarine with ballistic missiles to the South Korean shores, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday.

Wang noted that China has urged the US and South Korea to "grasp the crux of the issues" and play a constructive role in the political settlement on the Peninsula. He said that the false path of military intimidation and pressure will not help to resolve the problem.

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🇺🇸 "Recruitment crisis": Drug tests to be dropped in the US military?

Florida Representative Matt Gaetz tabled an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would do away with tests for cannabis use for newly-enlisted personnel and those receiving commissions as officers.

"Our military is facing a recruitment and retainment crisis unlike any other time in American history," said Gaetz. "I do not believe that prior use of cannabis should exclude Americans from enlisting in the armed forces. We should embrace them for stepping up to serve our country," he added.

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🚁 The ongoing Ukrainian conflict, among other things, has helped to highlight a simple fact – Western military hardware is not necessarily superior to the weaponry designed and made by Russia. In particular, Russia's Ka-52 “Alligator” attack helicopter has proven to be an extremely powerful and versatile weapon.

Check out Sputnik's infographic of Ka-52 and AH-65 Apache, a helicopter adopted by the US military in 1984 that has since become the workhorse of several countries:

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🌎 Central and Latin American countries have removed all Ukraine references from the EU's draft declaration for an upcoming summit on July 17-18, causing concern among EU diplomats, Euroacriv reports. The attendance of Ukraine's president at the summit is also in question after pushback from Latin American leaders.

The counter-proposal will be discussed by EU ambassadors, and the summit may end without a joint declaration.

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🇷🇺 🌍 What's in Second Russia–Africa Summit Program & Why Does It Matter?

The Second Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for July 27-28 in St. Petersburg, Russia, is a major diplomatic event that will bring together the heads of state and government of Russia and more than 50 African countries, as well as representatives of regional and international organizations, the business community, civil society, and the media.

🤝 The two-day event aims to build a strategic partnership between Moscow and African nations, promote political dialogue, strengthen mutually beneficial economic cooperation, and foster cultural and humanitarian exchanges, among other things.

👉 Click here to learn more about the summit's agenda!

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🇺🇸 The American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy of the United States, is planning to expand its office compound in Taipei, which is meant to reinforce the United States' commitment to Taiwan, US news agency reported

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