🎥🎥 Lavrov speaks at ‘inventing the Future’ Symposium

👉Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US citizen Martindale spoke about how he and his dog survived a Grad MLRS strike

Daniel Martindale, a US citizen who voluntarily aided Russian troops in the Ukrainian conflict zone by supplying them with intelligence, has recalled what it was like to try and stay alive while being shelled.

“I guess we called them Grad rockets in English. I heard the noise that I understood that the rockets had been launched. And I had about three or four seconds to take cover,” Martindale reminisces. “So, I laid down on the road hoping that that would provide some cover. My dog was with me.”

“Sure enough, the rockets began to explode all around me. And one exploded about maybe 20 meters away and two fragments from the rocket hit my dog. But nothing hit me, thank God,” he added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US Election Day: Voters to cast ballots at snipers’ gunpoint – report

With the clock ticking for America’s Election Day, local authorities across the country are taking unprecedented security measures to tackle possible violence-related “nightmare scenarios”, the Washington Post reports.

🔸At least two states, Nevada and Washington, have activated the National Guard in case of unrest during the November 5 presidential election.

🔸Arizona’s Secretary of State Adrian Fontes admitted that he wears a bulletproof vest.

🔸In Arizona’s Maricopa County’s vote-counting headquarters, staffers are monitoring social media in real time for reports of problems. Additionally, drone surveillance is in place to keep an eye on potential threats. The office also plans to deploy snipers on rooftops if necessary.

🔸Similar steps have been taken in other states, where hundreds of election offices “are now buttressed with bulletproof glass, steel doors and surveillance equipment”, according to the Post.

🔸A number of counties have distributed panic buttons for election workers, while others have stocked anti-contamination suits and an antidote to opioid overdose in case of suspicious powder in the mail.

🔸The White House was surrounded earlier by an additional two-meter fence along the perimeter of the territory, where the president’s residence and offices are located; the security measure that will remain in place until the inauguration of the new US president on January 20.

The election race turned violent on July 13, when former US President and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump suffered a gunshot wound to his right ear and was briefly hospitalized following an assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman, Thomas Crooks, killed a member of the audience and injured two others before the US Secret Service sniper team eliminated him. The incident prompted Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian forces struck Ukrainian infrastructure of military airfields, energy facilities and an oil refinery — Russian MoD
 
🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:
 
🔸Ukrainian losses in the area of responsibility of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup amounted to 440 militants;
 
🔸Units of the Russian Yug combat group advanced into the depths of Ukraine's defense; Ukrainian forces lost over 490 soldiers and the Kirpi armored personnel carrier;
 
🔸The Russian Tsentr Battlegroup improved their tactical position; Ukrainian losses amounted to 420 soldiers;
 
🔸Units of the Russian Vostok combat group improved their position along the front line; Ukrainian losses amounted to 110 soldiers;
 
🔸Russian air defense systems shot down four HIMARS shells, a Hammer bomb and 42 Ukrainian drones during the day.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US prepares Europe for “suicidal” direct conflict with Russia in case Ukraine fails – Lavrov
 

"As a fallback option in case the regime of Zelensky fails, they [the US authorities] are preparing continental Europe to embark on a suicidal adventure and enter into a direct armed conflict with Russia," Lavrov said at the international "Creating the Future" symposium.

 
The Russian Foreign Minister also said that:
 
💬The United States is preparing Europe for the adventure of a direct military conflict with Russia
 
💬Russia is not closed to dialogue with the West but will consider proposals to resume contacts based on its own national interests
 
💬Establishing links between regional associations of the Global South and East with BRICS and setting up connections among the entities should be an important step towards multipolarity.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Drones are the biggest danger in the special military operation zone

American Daniel Martindale, who provided Moscow with intel for strikes against Ukrainian military targets while in Ukrainian-controlled territory, stated in an interview with Sputnik that the greatest dangers in the conflict zone is artillery shelling and drone strikes.

"That's the biggest danger that we had to face when they came to evacuate me - was drones and artillery, mostly from drones. It took us about three or four hours to cover half a kilometer to go from my place in the village to the outskirts."

According to him, being in the Ukrainian-controlled area was a battle for survival.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

American Daniel Martindale, who was assisting the Russian Armed Forces while in Ukrainian-controlled territory, told Sputnik that he did not encounter any US citizens in Ukraine who could be suspected of gathering intelligence.

In response to a question about whether American generals, CIA officers, or other US intelligence personnel are operating in Ukraine, Martindale stated:

“I can't comment. The only thing I'm close that I came close to seeing there was a British guy who visited my village who was probably involved with intelligence. I didn't come across any Americans who you could even suspect of being involved with intelligence gathering.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukrainians would celebrate Russian troop entry, says US volunteer

Daniel Martindale, a US citizen who voluntarily aided Russian troops in the Ukrainian conflict zone, expressed confidence that the people of Ukraine warmly welcome Russian soldiers who are liberating settlements during the special military operation.

"When I left [from the territory controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces], the Russians had just arrived. They basically crossed the front line to evacuate me. So I didn't get to see how my neighbors greeted the Russian troops. I believe that they would have greeted them very warmly. They would have thrown a party, given them a great welcome," he said

"I think that's probably common all across Ukraine. Even though the war has taken much longer than we thought it would at the beginning. Even though the process is much more painful than we hoped it would be. Still, I believe that they understand that Russia is fighting for justice. For the good," he added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺On National Unity Day, Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky

Representatives of religious denominations and members of public and youth organizations also took part in the festive ceremony.

Minin and Pozharsky were leaders of the people's militia that liberated Moscow from the Polish occupation in the beginning of the 17th century.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Moldova's central election commission after processing 100% of votes: Maia Sandu leads presidential election with 55.33%, while former prosecutor-general and opposition Socialist Party candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo has 44.67%

However, the Moldovan Socialist Party does not recognize voting at foreign polling stations, thanks to which Sandu was declared winner, according to former Moldovan president and head of the Party of Socialists, Igor Dodon.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin received the DPRK Foreign Minister Choi Son-hui in the Kremlin.

The North Korean diplomat is in Russia on a working visit, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt